As The Dust Settles
by CompletelyAnonymousxd
Summary: As the newly formed Paranormal Liberation Army wages a war against the hero society, Dabi and Geten must struggle against heroes, the politics of their own organisation and their twisted relationship. After all, the rivalry forged in their duel cannot simply dissipate. If the two cannot agree on anything, perhaps they can agree to disagree. Starts after the MLA Arc. fem!Geten
1. Chapter 1: Identity I

Who was Geten? To her, it was an easy question to answer. She was Re-destro's weapon and an instrument of the Liberation Army. She fully dedicated herself to their principles and Grand Commander, whom she had always respected and cared for. To her, Re-destro was the most powerful man she had ever known.

So imagine her horror to see her mentor laying on debris, bloodied and legless, whilst the gang leader of those upstart brats stood over him, his clothes ripped, grinning.

Her body moved on its own, reflexes guiding her motions. A thin shard of ice appeared in front of her, created from the ice cubes she always kept in her pocket. The spear aimed true: at that boy's head.

A thrust of her arm was what it would take, and she would enact the vengeance she desired.

"Stand down." Re-destro waved off the incoming wave of his loyalists. Not that they would have followed through anyway. Those cowards were petrified by that boy's smile, but she would have moved if it weren't for her leader's orders.

"What?" She gasped, breathing heavily. _Am I hearing right? _Rage, shock, fear, it bleached her mind. _No good. Stay – stay calm. _

Perhaps the fight with that man earlier, the fire-user, had drained her more than she'd liked to admit. Her heaving breaths betrayed her fatigue.

She watched Re-destro beckon Trumpet over, who responded immediately, jumping off his truck and sprinting over. They conversed for a while, with the boy standing beside them. His smile had faded, replaced with an expression of weariness.

"Our leader has ordered us to cease all fighting with the League Of Villains!" Trumpet decreed. "Tend to the wounded, collect the fallen, repair our home, and…" He faltered, as though unsure of how to phrase the following words. "Our leader has requested to bring our…guests—" Trumpet nearly choked on the word, "sushi."

While the remnants of the army scattered to heed the order, Geten rushed forward to Re-destro, manipulating the ice from her pocket to create a makeshift cast, fitting it around the stumps.

"Grand Commander…" she whispered, feeling tears drip down her cheek.

"Apocrypha, I am sorry. I have failed the Liberation Army." He said, head drooping.

"You've lost a lot of blood. Let's get you to the hospital."

Re-Destro gave a laugh that was devoid of any humour. "He's destroyed nearly all of them."

"Hey." The chilling voice of the boy brought her attention to him. Geten felt satisfaction seeing the boy in just as bad of a shape as her leader. "I need some help too. Where's the hospital?"

"We'll take you there. Trumpet." The politician turned to face them. "The van."

He understood immediately and whistled for the driver.

Even for an ice-user, Geten felt the coldness in the van. Re-Destro and her were seated in the back, while Trumpet took over the driver's seat, and the boy rode shotgun. Everyone was quiet.

There was shivering, Geten could tell. From the slight tremble in Trumpet's right arm from being in such close proximity to the boy who had levelled nearly half the city, to her own hands. She kept them moving, kept them dancing, moving the few ice cubes in her pocket, ready to —

"Hey, girl. Stop that." The boy muttered, not even facing her.

She froze. "What?"

"If I was going to do something, I'd have destroyed you all just now." Trumpet flinched at his words.

She eyed the man beside her for a command. Re-Destro only gave her a weak smile, as though that would reassure her. It only deepened her snarl.

"Okay." She said, forcing her restless fingers to remain stationary.

She could end it all. She could do it. One shard — the boy wouldn't even be able to see it. Yet, only two things kept her from following through: her loyalty, and the fearful thought that even her leader couldn't defeat him. _Was this boy stronger than him, or...no, no_.

That was a treacherous thought she had no right to entertain.

She kept her eyes on the people outside that the van was rushing past. The Meta Liberation Army, nearly 20 thousand strong, and they were unable to kill 6 brats. Now these supposedly strong soldiers were strewn about on the streets, dead or dying, like ants after an exterminator's sweep.

_They're weak, all of them,_ she snarled at their pitiful states. She had none for them. Only she trained at the level all of them should have. Only she was worthy of her leader's praise.

_Then why didn't you kill that fire-user? _Her conscience asked, with the same tone of condescension she had towards her fellow citizens.

She thought about it for a while, and had no answer she liked.

* * *

Everyone was on edge on the first night. They were tired, as was she, but how could she sleep when she knew the League Of Villains was right next door?

The handful of undestroyed buildings were crammed to the brim with the survivors of the army. The League was given the rooms in the Deika Hotel, and Geten was posted there to keep guard, though she would have done it regardless of the request by Skeptic. Him and Trumpet would be protecting Re-destro at the hospital, given that half of the League was also in an equally bad shape and were hospitalised as well.

That left the lizard man, the one with the hat, and the fire-user, so Geten wasn't too worried. Still, she sat in the room opposite theirs, both resting and anticipating a move by those delinquents.

There was the opening of the door. Instantly, she opened hers, brandishing her ice shards.

It was him.

The two looked at each other for an instant. His expression shifted from surprise to condescension, tilting his chin high, his mouth curling into a sneer.

"I didn't know you were a girl." He said, seeming to note her long hair which her parka wasn't covering.

"The Grand Commander tasked me to deal with you," Geten stated, disregarding whatever he had said, "I have never failed him. I don't plan on doing so."

"Cool threat. Hey." Dabi snapped his fingers at her eye level. "Wake up. It's over. We won, you lost, and now we're using your money and eating sushi."

She smiled. "You're an idiot if you think we've surrendered. We've merely entered a ceasefire. The Festival will continue, and it will start with me delivering your corpse to the Grand Commander."

He sighed, muttering something under his breath that Geten didn't catch. "Look, I'm tired. I'd think you'd be tired too if you were actually, y'know, human. Let's go and sleep, and one day, I'll burn you alive. Deal?"

"I'm not tired. I'm not _you_." The last word was spoken with derision.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Dabi waved her off and started ambling down the hallway. "Trained for years, strength is amazing, Re-destro's the best. I've got more important shit to deal with than you."

"Don't you dare utter his name with your filthy mouth," She hissed, the icicles pointing at him.

Dabi turned around. "Alright, little girl," he said, "If your _Grand Commander _is so great I can't even say his name, tell me why he lost to Shigaraki and I'm not six feet under."

"My job isn't finished. It's as simple as that."

Dabi eyed her. He opened his mouth, then closed it, turning around to continue down the hallway.

Again, for the second time that day, Geten could have followed through with the kill. But she found her arms lowering, her ice shards reshaping back into cubes, returning to her pockets.

She exhaled. _Why didn't I do it? What's wrong with me? Something about what he said...Shigaraki. That boy. _

Her face creasing into a frown, she shut her room door behind her.

* * *

**A/N: Hi, this is a new fic idea I'm trying out. I'm sorry if I come off as distant because I won't have an A/N for every chapter. I usually like to put my thoughts but I'm cross-posting this across Wattpad, Tumblr and probably AO3, and it feels impersonal to have the same A/N in every platform. For now, I've put all my thoughts on my Tumblr randomguywithwords so feel free to follow that if you like. I have more shippy one-shots there like todomomo, monoma x kendo, kamijirou etc.**

**Feel free to dump any feedback you have on me. If you enjoyed it, you know what to do. I hate to sound like youtubers.**


	2. Chapter 2: Identity II

Who was Dabi? It was a question he ignored many times whenever he was asked by others – or himself. Right now, he was a man who'd just emerged victorious from a battle against the Meta Liberation Army.

He watched in awe as his combatants – the people he was trying to kill – threw their hands in the air at the announcement of Re-destro's surrender and begged for mercy from Dabi and his flames.

He considered burning them all, just for the hell of it. He had no need to remember them, after all. Still, when the life of some pathetic garbage fell into his hands, he had to treasure that moment. That feeling of empowerment invigorated him, putting the widest smile on his face.

"Good fight," He announced to the trembling citizens, "Weak trash." Putting his hands in his pockets, he walked away as though he had just finished with a meal, while ignoring the stinging of his arms as best as he could.

_Guys, _Mr Compress' voice came in over the communicators, _Are you guys all good?_

_Compress! _Twice sounded frantic. _What's going on? Toga needs help!_

_Twice, we won. Where are you? Get Toga to the hospital, we'll all meet there. Shigaraki and Spinner need the hospital too. Dabi? You there? _Compress asked.

Dabi tapped his earpiece. _Yeah, I'm good. Heading there now. I think I know where Shigaraki is. He should be heading to the Western Deika Hospital. It's the green and pink building. _

_I see it! I'm bringing Toga there now!_

Dabi stopped walking for a moment, took a deep breath and exhaled. _God damn, we really did it. _The euphoria was mixed with his tiredness.

The weight in his legs grew more apparent as he walked, the adrenaline gradually declining. Fatigue set in, and by the time Dabi met up with the rest at the hospital, he sat down against a wall and closed his eyes.

* * *

_A few hours later..._

Swinging open the door, he found a familiar person narrowing his – no, _her_ eyes at him, with icicles levitating around her. She wasn't wearing the hood of her parka, so her long white hair draped around the fur.

"I didn't know you were a girl," He began.

"The Grand Commander tasked me to deal with you," Apocrypha said, "I have never failed him. I don't plan on doing so."

Dabi groaned internally. "Cool threat. Hey. Wake up. It's over. We won, you lost, and now we're using your money and eating sushi."

Furthering his annoyance, she only smiled, like an insufferable brat. "You're an idiot if you think we've surrendered. We've merely entered a ceasefire. The Festival will continue, and it will start with me delivering your corpse to the Grand Commander."

"Oh for fuck's sake," He whispered to himself, sighing. "Look, I'm tired. I'd think you'd be tired too if you were actually, y'know, human. Let's go and sleep, and one day, I'll burn you alive. Deal?"

"I'm not tired. I'm not _you_."

_Obviously. I'm not the brainwashed girl, _Dabi thought, waving his hand as he walked down the hallway in dismissal of her statement. "Trained for years, strength is amazing, Re-destro's the best. I've got more important shit to deal with than you."

"Don't you dare utter his name with your filthy mouth!" She shot back.

_Ooh, now she's pissed. _Dabi turned around. "Alright, little girl," he said in mock placation, "If your _Grand Commander _is so great I can't even say his name, tell me why he lost to Shigaraki and I'm not six feet under."

"My job isn't finished. It's as simple as that."

Dabi stared at her. _She's gone down the deep end. Don't even bother, I'm too tired for this shit, _he told himself, turning away and heading to the nearest room.

Hearing no further statement, he assumed she was done, and opening the door, he took a quick glance to see if she was still there. She was not. _Thank god._

He entered the bathroom to see his extremely tired self blearily looking back at him. Placing his hands under the tap, he took a deep breath, and turned it on.

"Gah!" He hissed as the water stung his arms like an acid. Enduring his ritual for a while more, he shut off the tap and dried his hands.

He hated doing this, but realised it was a necessity ever since the day his quirk awakened. Fire and ashes, that was all he remembered, but he shut off the thought as soon as it arose. He had no need to remember them, after all.

Returning back to his room, he crashed onto the first empty bed he saw and allowed his heavy eyes to close.

* * *

Everyone gathered around the table for Shigaraki's called meeting, using a meeting room in the hospital.

Shigaraki looked around the meeting. "Toga, Twice, Re-destro…" He muttered, noting down those not present. "Everyone else here?"

After a general nod of assent, he began, "We're going to start doing these daily, at least for the next few days, then these will just be weekly or something. There's only a few things on the agenda. Supplies and the media, as well as clean-up. First off, supplies. Skeptic?"

The CEO spoke with what Dabi perceived was constrained civility. "Medical, food and water relief should be here by the afternoon. The building materials won't be for another day."

"Good, then make sure everyone at low HP is treated first. I'll see if I can get Twice to clone people to help, but I don't wanna make him exert himself. Next, the media, those little bastards. Trumpet."

"I'll make a statement to quell them for now. We're starting the fabrication of the story," The politician answered timidly. Compared to Skeptic, Dabi reckoned, he seemed more intimidated. _Makes sense, what's a politician gonna do in a straight fight? _He forced down a smile at seeing the quivering expression of Hanabata.

"Sure. Compress, supervise them. I'll leave the media up to you and Trumpet. Let the media in tomorrow. Tell them we're all grieving or some shit like that."

"Gotcha," Compress acknowledged with a tip of his hat. Hanabata slowly raised his hand.

With Shigaraki's nod, Trumpet asked, "What about the memorial for Ms Curious and the fallen?"

"Use the barren part, build over it once the materials arrive. Dabi, cremate the bodies." Shigaraki looked pointedly at him. He waved it off. "Yeah, I got it."

"Ok…" Shigaraki did another sweep of the room. His eyes fixated on Apocrypha, who had been silent throughout the whole meeting.

"You. What's your name again? Apocalypse or something?" He pointed a finger at her.

She bristled at this, responding with a quiet, "Apocrypha."

"You're on cleanup, got it?"

"Yes." Dabi detected an edge to her voice. His eyes trailed towards Shigaraki, looking for any reaction. To his surprise, if he had any reaction, the leader didn't show it.

"That's all for today, then. We'll discuss the festival...stuff, once Re-destro joins us. See ya."

With that, everyone left the room one at a time, while Dabi sat there watching them leave. Apocrypha was the last to do so.

"Don't go to the southern section. I'm clearing that area," He said, looking at his glass of water instead of her, but loud enough for her to hear.

Apocrypha stopped, turning her head to look at him. With a poisonous tone, she said, "I'll do whatever the hell I want. You're no leader, so stop acting like you can control me, you weakling." And left before Dabi could retort, leaving his anger directed at the door she had shut behind her.

He smelt his flesh again and looked down at his arms, which had lit up in fury. Extinguishing the flames with a growl, he started to find that girl more than annoying.

_I thought I wouldn't need to kill you, but I guess I have to now, huh? Our battle hasn't ended. Not. At. All. _

A ringing distracted him from his thoughts. Taking out his phone, he saw the message.

"I bought your denim jeans." -Blackbird

He grinned. "Same place. 3pm." He sent the message, got up and left, spirits slightly lifted at the imagination of the number three hero's bloody corpse.

* * *

**25/4/20 Edit: More edits to this chapter since I really didn't like the first draft. **


	3. Chapter 3: A Mutual Understanding

Geten observed the crowd from her platform, supported by a large pillar of ice that formed from water in the drain. They were like ants surrounding the newly restored ground, marching in an orderly manner to the tombstone and back behind the circle, a berth given to the memorial out of respect for the fallen and Ms Curious.

Many of the citizens had gathered for the service. Only a few groups were on cleanup duty, not unlike what she was supposed to be doing. But that wasn't her job. She wasn't like these ants, mindless slaves for their new master, their new king.

She only listened to Re-destro.

At least, she used to. Something in the back of her mind had started to bite her, like a parasite making its home in her brain. It fed her thoughts, thoughts she found alien. Thoughts she despised.

From her birds eye view, she had a beautiful scenery of her the destruction of her city. To the north, Shigaraki had reduced everything, from the centre to the city limits, to rubble and ashes, shaped in a cone. To the east, where she had been fighting Dabi, the buildings were like tree stumps, cut through with a giant blade, or an eruption of ice pillars that decimated both the housing and the plague of clones. She smiled, recalling that display of strength.

And it was there that she saw an azure flame roar to life that melted her smirk. _What was that bastard doing now?_

She rotated her palm. The ice obeyed, shifting and churning, the molecules expanding and contracting. Layers of ice on the pillar crept over one another to reach her platform and harden, while the ice behind her descended in a reversed fashion, unraveling into layers that then twisted around the pillar and then ascended.

The technique was one not many ice-users could perform; many opted to simply unleash a wave of ice to slide across, but a skilled opponent would use the same ice to chase them. Hence, this mode of travel was one of her greatest prides. Oh, it looked easy. Many assumed she was simply willing the mass of ice to move in whatever direction she chose, but it was so much more than that, a mechanism others could only wish they could comprehend.

"I said don't bother me, didn't I?" Dabi said as she touched down on the ground, his eyes trained on the blaze in front of him.

"You said you were clearing the southern section. I'll do whatever the hell I want." She replied.

"Plans change, I need to clean up the mess you made."

"So did I." She gestured at the festering heaps of gloop from the clones that painted the fractured roads.

The fire grew a darker shade of blue. Geten smelt the unforgettable smell of burnt human flesh. She heard Dabi inhale deeply, then exhale.

"You're a strong one, I knew that," Dabi said over the raging fire, then he turned to look at her, "But you killing your own comrades, that's a bit…cold."

He shrugged. "Of course, I can tell you don't care. You never had any respect for them. You thought they were weak, and you're right. Look at them."

She did. There they were, bodies piled onto one another, their silhouettes all conjoining to form one hideous, but very dead, beast. Pitiful. Pathetic.

"They barely did anything. Those injuries we took? All from your leaders. They were the strong ones. These guys, just cannon fodder, just meat shields. Useless."

She knew she should be speaking out against them. They've trained for the festival, as did she. They tried their hardest, and many died for the cause. But she knew it was only she that deserved to be gazed at with pride by Re-destro.

And so she stayed quiet, and Dabi did the same. All that was heard was the sound of flames unleashed from his hands, like a furnace.

After a minute, he stopped. The job was done. All that remained was a heap of ash, black like the scorched earth.

And Geten felt no sympathy.

Dabi looked at her once more appraisingly, as though dissecting her expression. He didn't speak.

Geten glared at him. "What are you looking at? You can go. I'll get people to clean this up."

"Just seeing if you look like me," He responded.

She growled. "I look nothing like you."

Dabi shook his head and started to stroll away. "You look _exactly_ like me."

Geten felt a beast emerge within her, like a snake that had uncoiled in pure fury, striking. She roared, throwing her hands out in front of her. The ice responded. Shards of them sprung from her pockets, the remnants from the drains below. They aimed straight at that creature.

He shot his hand out and a wave of blue flames engulfed the shards, melting them dead. The flames dissipated.

He was staring at her now, with those lifeless eyes of his. Then he slowly turned and continued walking, his hands in his pockets.

"What was that, Apocrypha?" Skeptic's voice came from behind her. She turned to see the CEO glaring at her.

"You're going to get yourself killed by attacking the League." He said.

That tone of his, like a parent reprimanding a child…she hated it.

"He doesn't care." Geten waved her hand to summon her ice. She stepped on it, looking at the floor.

"Why not?" He replied, aggravated.

"Because one of us is going to kill the other soon enough." With that, she ascended into the sky and left.

* * *

Dabi saw bodies. They were strewn out like garbage in the alleyway, their flesh and clothes still smouldering. Like cinders, ash floated into the air, invisible against the sooty, darkened walls. Their bodies would be too soon.

After all, who were these people? Gang members, unaffiliated with any of the major players, just some upstarts who thought they could hold a candle to him. So Dabi made sure they became candles.

_If you're trash, at least be useful and burn like kindle for me, _he said.

How many was that now? He stopped counting long ago. It wasn't worth the effort or memory. He didn't have a lot of those.

What did he have, concealed in the synapses of his brain? Faces and fire. Just those two. And those faces spoke. But the fire…it just screamed. Sometimes they wailed, but never silent. Only one plume of fire had ever stayed quiet. And it angered him.

Another memory reached out unexpectedly.

_Burn it. It's not worth remembering,_ Dabi had told him.

And so he did. What did he know? He was a lost child, a child abandoned and unloved. And so he torched the bodies. They were nothing but fire in his memories now. How long ago was that? More than ten, surely? Because before that, he didn't call himself Dabi.

"Hey, you stoning?" Hawk's voice brought him to the present. Dabi glanced at him. He was carrying a black haversack. He grinned.

"I'm fine. Let me see it."


	4. Chapter 4: Re-Destro's Weapon

Geten deftly waded her way through the hospital, wearing her hood that ensured no eye contact was made with anyone. She ignored the moans and groans of the weak, focused only on her destination.

"Apocrypha...please…" The wail of her name caught her attention to one of the hospitalized. She cursed herself for doing so. She was facing a soldier no older than twenty, lying on a bed, shaking with agony. His entire right side was raw with scorch marks, his skin was peeling off and dripping with sweat, water and pus. A visceral sight that made her take two steps back.

Then she saw why he called her name. Placed in between his right armpit were a bunch of melting ice cubes. Water leaked into the bedsheets and onto the floor. On his bedside table lay a plate of more ice. She knew what he wanted.

Without another word, she turned and left, leaving the young man weakly calling after her.

She closed the door behind her, shutting off the nuisance. She was in a private ward now. She heard the sound of breathing tubes, and another voice.

"Apocrypha? What brings you here?" Trumpet stood up from his chair, eyeing her. She noted his right hand reaching for his pocket, supposedly on instinct.

_Don't trust me already? That was fast…_

"I want to talk to Re-destro," she said, "Alone."

"He's asleep."

She shrugged. "I'm fine with that. Give me a minute with him."

Trumpet's face didn't relax, but he gave a rigid nod and walked to the door. As he opened it, he said, "One minute." Then the door closed behind him.

She approached the bed, her eyes trailing across her leader's broken form, ending at the stumps where his legs once were. It was all covered by a white blanket, but the stumps were visible, a jab to the gut.

Geten knew that his legs were gone. She was the first to attend to him, after all. She saw the bloody mess that poured from his bare kneecaps, but seeing them so perfectly dressed and healed was sickening. It meant a point of no return. Re-destro had lost his legs forever.

No doubt that a replacement set of prosthetic legs would be designed for him, but that was artificial, a pale shadow of what Re-destro once was.

Thinking about this reminded Geten of one of her lessons.

_Re-destro massaged his temple, sighing. Geten stood beside him quietly, wondering what his answer would be. _

_Then she felt pain explode in her chest. She felt weightless, her sight of her leader fading and shrinking fast as distance between them grew. It hit her: he had kicked her away. _

"_Ah!" She cried, sprawled on the ground, propped up against the wall. _

"_You ask these questions. It's...stressful for me, Apocrypha. You don't want me to be stressed, do you?" He curled his lip, his eyes staring into her own. She trembled. "No, great leader," she whimpered. _

"_You asked me what legs were for. And I showed you. To silence redundant, useless questions from the curious. You're too young to be curious." He said in a chiding tone, as if he hadn't just kicked her across the room. _

"_Curiosity is dangerous, Apocrypha." That was the lesson he wanted her to learn, but she learned something else as well. The function of legs: weapons against the weak. Kick someone to show your superiority and their utter powerlessness against you. _

And now...her _grand _commander had lost his legs. He'd lost a weapon, a tool of...control.

_Where are these thoughts coming from? _She thought. _It's — it's not right. Stop. _

She took a step back. This was wrong. Her mind felt fuzzy, with too many thoughts surging through. If her brain was an ocean, the waves were rough, thrashing uncontrollably. A storm was brewing.

"Grand. Commander." She enunciated the words as clear as Arctic ice, reminding herself of her place, demanding that other side of her, the one that began to question, to stay silent.

She stared at him.

"You must have a plan, yes? To take back your place. I know you would not share it with me. I am a mere weapon, but please…tell me this nightmare will end soon." She blinked back tears.

Then she remembered how he looked after the battle. That look of defeat on his face was an expression she recognised on the enemies Re-destro ordered her to destroy.

_What could it mean? _She wondered.

The door swung open like a gale had struck it. Trumpet stood there, arms crossed, silent. Geten understood the message just fine. She withdrew from the room without sparing the man a glance or a word. She had no complaints either. The more time she spent in that room, the more her thoughts drifted into dangerous waters.

* * *

"Not gonna lie, I'm surprised," Dabi said as he looked up from the bag, "How'd you do it?"

Hawk's eyes glinted like iron under the sun. Without another word, he shot his right arm out towards a metal pipe. Dabi just barely managed to catch a glimpse of a small white object shoot through the air and slice the pipe cleanly in two.

Dabi snorted, "Showoff." Behind his back, he extinguished the flame in his right hand that had ignited in reaction to Hawk's sudden action.

"I did what you wanted," Hawks said.

_Did you though? _

"I guess you did." Dabi smiled and offered a handshake, which Hawks took. "Come to Deika City on Saturday. You'll know everything."

Hawks raised an eyebrow, but seemed to accept the odd proposal. "Alright. See you then. What do you want with this?" He pointed at the bag.

Dabi aimed his palm at it, making Hawks take two steps back. A flame poured forth from his hand, engulfing the flame entirely.

"That was satisfying," Dabi breathed in the scent of burning flesh. He didn't quite enjoy it though. He knew he would have enjoyed it even more if it actually were the body of Best Jeanist.

His eyes met with Hawks', who said nothing in reply.

"See you then." Hawks gave his own smile, before he took flight and left.

Dabi watched his body slowly shrink until it became a grey spot in the sky. Could he still see him? Hear him? Dabi could not tell. There was a lot Hawks was not telling him, but to be fair, it was the same vice versa.

He looked down at the bag again, which was now charred black, smouldering. He tried to imagine Best Jeanist's screams, but he just couldn't. He had not had the pleasure of hearing the hero's cries at Kamino. Now this fake corpse was silent. This plume of flame was quiet too.

_There was only one fire that was silent right? Now there's two..._

He growled, kicking the bag against the wall. There was no satisfaction from this.

_I'd kill you right now, Hawks, if you weren't giving me other heroes to burn. _

He placed the communicator earpiece in his ear. "Ujiko. Take me back."


	5. Chapter 5: His Weapon No More

The southern section of Deika City was the last part to be repaired. While the north was the region immediately tended to, given a memorial and paved with grey concrete, the south received little to no attention. It was still a wasteland.

As Geten walked through the broken streets, coated with a layer of ash, she recalled that this was where the fight started, where the celebrants poured out from everywhere, where the Resurrection Festival had began. The curtains had parted here.

Yet it was a tragic end that befell the Liberation Army, the curtains closing mercifully upon the final scene. Where there was zeal and hope to light the fire of liberation of meta abilities, it had been snuffed out by their enemies-turned-leaders.

It made her angry. Still, she refused to believe it at first. But after spending a few days walking amongst these heathens, the ceasefire still in effect, she began to realise that: No, it was no ceasefire, but a total surrender. Seeing her Grand Commander in the hospital, reeking of _defeat_ – the word was poisonous to think – only confirmed her fears. Still, her beliefs persisted.

_No, it was not the end. I have yet to hear him speak, hear him retake control over his loyalists. _

That was what she thought, until just now, when he announced the transformation of the Meta Liberation Army to the Paranormal Liberation Front. And he would be transferring his leadership to that boy.

"Idiot! He did not give it up. That boy forced Re-destro to abdicate his throne. That must be it! It must be…" She muttered to herself, fists clenching as she her pace quickened. Her legs shivered.

_Weakling. The coward surrendered the throne, _Another voice in her head snarled.

How Re-destro acted towards the boy disgusted her. She could recall it clearly. Re-destro offering the boy a drink, like a common servant. He was smiling with placation, not unlike the polite expressions the bellhops wore in hotels. The Re-destro she knew since her induction into the Liberation Army was dead.

She sneered, but she did not know if it was her rage against that boy for bringing Re-destro to his knees, or her pity towards Re-destro's lowliness. She could not bear to watch further, and hence left the celebrations early.

Which brought her here, kicking stones aside and letting the fire in her stomach burn. Images burnt like film into her mind, forever frozen in her memories, the ones that hurt her. Part of her was angry, a raging inferno, while the other was scared, shivering, at her thoughts of treachery.

She sat down on a fallen pillar, her breaths growing faster. These two sides of her collided, and she did not know what to do. Her fists were shaking, the ice in her pocket thrashing around, responding to her distraught mind.

Her hands grasped her parka, pulling it tightly over her head. She was his weapon, his will incarnate.

What did she have, if she was no longer Re-destro's weapon?

The answer came to her after a pause of breath. She exhaled slowly. The fire and ice within her embraced now.

She stood up; her arms fell to her sides.

_I execute the will of the Liberation Army. Re-destro is not fit to lead and guide our principles, but the principles are unchanged. Strength is survival. I will ensure that. _

Her mind was clear. She brought her right hand up. A pillar of ice erupted from the ground, obeying her commands. Clenching her fist, the pillar compressed into a giant sphere, and at the thrust of her arm, it flew forward into a brick wall, smashing it into smithereens.

Then she felt a surge in temperature from her side. A wall of ice rose to block the torrent of flame on her right, melting the wall and allowing her an unwanted view of the man who had unleashed the fire.

"You." She faced him.

"I try to get away from this...party," Dabi said, the last word dripping with disdain, "and I find you here. This is really beginning to annoy me."

His head was tilted to the side, staring at her with those cold eyes of his. She realised his true intentions behind his words and actions: an invitation to fight to fulfil their mutual promise.

For the first time that night, Geten's face twisted into a smile.

"You were a pathetic nuisance the minute you showed at our doorstep." With that, Geten raised icicles and sent them flying towards the fire-user in all directions, like targeted missiles.

What followed was something Geten grudgingly admired. Dabi seemed to note every shard's position. He rolled to dodge one, blasting fire at two to melt them while resuming his standing position. He swept his right arm, creating a barrier of flames that stopped the few coming from the front. The last shard, about to stab him in the back, was used as a platform to backflip off of, sending the shard into the ground shattered. The man landed unscathed, and judging by his indifferent expression, unimpressed.

Geten allowed herself a smile, but Dabi couldn't see it from her parka covering her face. "Shame you didn't present such versatility when we last battled. It would have made for a more interesting fight, if you hadn't stood still the entire time and fired," She called out.

"I don't bother exerting myself for weak trash," He replied.

"That's a compliment, then."

Dabi's face morphed into anger. He rushed at her, his hands igniting.

Geten performed another 'raising' gesture, with an ice spike forming underground and about to pierce her opponent, when Dabi did something that stunned her.

Dabi, without shifting his glare away from her, aimed his palm at the ground and fired, melting the oncoming ice, which never reached his feet.

_What the hell? He predicted that? _Geten thought as she raised a thin wall of ice to separate the two. Waving her arms, ice carried her upwards, evading Dabi's violent flames that punched through the wall and where she was a split second ago.

Once she was twice his height, the ice beneath her reformed and flowed towards her arms. She let herself fall headfirst onto Dabi, who had just noticed the shadow blanketing him.

She slammed onto the ground, gauntlets of ice cracking the pavement like glass. She scowled, seeing as Dabi had managed to leap away in the nick of time.

A stream of azure fire was sent her way, which she raised her fists to block.

_Need more ice, _she thought. She felt for the melting ice around her; the molecules were beginning to vibrate more vigorously but still under melting point. With a thought, their temperature plummeted like an uncontrolled elevator down a shaft. The water molecules slowed, the effect spreading fast. Soon she had more ice at her disposal.

Just in time for her to coalesce them into shards and shoot at Dabi.

Dabi growled and fired another blast to nullify the attack. He clutched at his smoky right arm.

"Getting tired yet? Painful, isn't it?" Geten taunted, grinning at her imminent victory. All other thoughts faded away, leaving only one in her mind: _I'm going to kill him. _

"What about you? You're shaking." Dabi pointed a finger at her hands. Immediately, she shoved them into her pockets.

He smirked at her reaction. "Let me guess. Decreasing the temperature of the ice requires you to absorb their energy. And it has to go somewhere, right? You."

_Damn it. I'm overheating. _How could she have let this happen? She was usually mindful about her limits. _What changed?_

She stood her ground, willing her body to cool down, but she could not attack. Any ice she summoned would melt too fast, thereby removing her control over it.

"Can't move, can't attack…" Dabi mused, keeping his gaze on her. "How about we call it even?"

"Never." She spat.

Dabi blinked, then shrugged. "Suit yourself."

He ran at her, his eyes alit with malice.

_Come on. _She willed any ice to move, but she felt the water slip out of her control as soon as she commanded it. Her heart raced.

He wasn't stopping. His hands were burning. The azure flames were blinding her. Perhaps it would be the last light she ever saw.

The ice in her pockets? She felt a cold wetness against her stomach. Her heart skipped a beat. _I've lost control. _

Dabi's arm was raised, beginning to blaze with uncontrolled power. She closed her eyes, her body heat nothing compared to the flames that stung her face.

_I'm weak. _

Yet it was not flaming agony that scorched her face, but cooling nighttime wind caressing her cheeks. She opened her eyes to see the well-dressed villain with that top hat and mask looking at her curiously. In his hand was a blue pearl.

"Thought you two were having a practice match, so I stayed far away," Mr Compress said, "But then things seemed to heat up, so to speak. Had to step in."

He tossed the pearl containing Dabi into the air a few times. Geten just stared at him as best as she could with the spots dancing in her eyes, her mind in a whirl. She blinked a few times.

"Normally I wouldn't intervene. I love a good show, and you two were excellent performers." He pocketed the pearl. "However, Shigaraki wants you alive. He knows you're powerful, so I can't have Dabi take you out so fast. I'm not saying I care about you, but…" He shrugged.

"Don't die just yet. You're needed in this army." He bowed and left, swinging his cane carelessly.

Geten stood there for a while. She knew she had cooled down, but strangely she found herself quaking from her head to her toes. Finally, she dropped down onto the floor. She felt something wet flow down her cheeks and plop onto her parka.

Burying her face in her gloved hands, she allowed a sob to ripple through her throat.

Her own voice roared at her. _A failure! You wanted to be a weapon, but you lost against __**him**__. Weakling._

_You're needed in this army, _Compress had told her. Needed as a weapon, but for the new army, not the one where her loyalties lie.

She should have been happy. _Maybe I am. Are these tears of joy? _She couldn't explain it. The fact that he had acknowledged her purpose was validation of her skills. The fact that Shigaraki was keeping her alive was proof that she was a powerful asset.

Then why did she feel so empty and cold?

Something bit at her.

_Him and I, fire and ice, day and night. What is it about him, about the League, that's so different from the Army? So different from me?_

Perhaps it was just the cold.

* * *

"What the fuck was that?" Dabi pushed Compress against the walls of the hotel room.

"Watch it," The entertainer warned, the threat making Dabi take a step back. "As for what I was doing, you were about to kill her! The hell were you thinking? We might not be chums with the Liberation Army, but we aren't enemies anymore. How would you have explained yourself to Shigaraki?"

Dabi sat down on his bed. "I wasn't going to kill her. I couldn't have."

Compress, massaging his back, raised an eyebrow. He stated after a pause, "You were drained, weren't you."

"You're a showman, you should have known it was all fake. I barely could have choked out enough flames to cook her. I just wanted to see her lose." Dabi said.

The other snorted, "Well excuse me, it looked pretty real, and I was being cautious. And you did win. Whatever rivalry you two have."

Dabi rubbed his pain-wracked arms. "I'm going to shower." He stood up.

He was at the door when Compress spoke. "Y'know, I can't honestly tell whether you two want to kill each other or show off who's better."

"Both." He answered as left the room.


	6. Chapter 6: Touya

Dabi shut the door behind him, he noted the frost that coated his left hand as it held the doorknob. His eyes narrowed as he released his grip, examining it under the dim lantern light. The melting specks of ice glinted back at him. It looked like a crystal chandelier.

It looked to him - he thought - as he rubbed his hands against the walls, that the ice had come from him. _How…?_

The final moments of the fight replayed in his mind. His hands had sparked, but no flame would have ignited. Her hand was outstretched, coalescing tiny flakes of ice on his hands, most probably to extinguish his fire. And the frost had lingered on him until he decompressed.

_Doesn't matter, don't think about it. _

As usual, that command never worked. A face appeared in his mind: the brother he'd never met, and behind him, a fiery hand rested on the boy's shoulder…

Endeavour.

_Look, father, _he would have said, eyes shining with elation, were he still a little boy, _I've done it. _

Were he still a child, wanting to impress him, he would have been ecstatic to think that he could create ice.

But he wasn't a child. He wasn't Touya Todoroki anymore. He would never acknowledge the existence of a Touya ever again.

"_If you're going to be trash by just being a fire-type, then at least be useful and be more powerful than me! You're worthless!" _

The thought of making his father proud incensed him, igniting his hands unconsciously. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and his pace sped up. He wasn't sure where he was going. The restroom? His arms stung at the thought.

He found himself there a few seconds later, the tap running, but he grasped the sink tightly with his hands, looking in the mirror.

Biting his tongue, he placed his hands under the running tap. His agonising ritual only stoked his anger directed at so many people. In particular, _her_.

"Apocrypha…" He growled with fatigued conviction as his reflection gazed at him with tired eyes. It was late, after all, but it was more than that: he was tired of having to deal with her, tired of her insanity, tired of how she annoyed him into burning his own arms every time they fought.

_Why are you doing this to me? Why am I doing this? _

He could answer one of the questions. Because he hated her. He found her pathetic. She was a girl clearly brainwashed by this crazy army and their book. Even when they were defeated, her beliefs kept her going, kept her being a thorn in his side.

He thought it would be easier to kill her. It always was. The ashes in alleys told him that it was the faster, more efficient method, but she wasn't like them. He knew that she was stronger than them.

And maybe...just maybe, she was stronger than him as well.

_Still, strength isn't everything, _thought Dabi, _was it, Sensei? _

"_No, Touya," His mentor replied, his battle-hardened eyes focused on Touya's small form. "Remember that there's always a stronger opponent, but that doesn't mean you will lose. You can run – there's nothing wrong about escaping when the foe is too difficult, or you can devise another way to win."_

Dabi forced himself out of his memories with a pinch. He didn't want to think about the lessons he had learned from him. Looking at his reflection, he gave a rueful sigh. Maybe it was time to take his teacher's words to heart, given this strange situation he has found himself in now.

_Aren't you looking to be the new Dabi? _A voice taunted, the same voice that's been residing in his mind for the past few years, emerging from the mirror as he stared at it. _That's why you named yourself after Sensei, no? Little Touya. _

_Shut up. That was not why. _The other voice sounded less certain everytime he said it.

_Really? Then let's take another trip down memory –_

"No." Dabi tore himself from the mirror, exiting the toilet with a rush. He wanted sleep.


	7. Chapter 7: Conflict Of Interest

Their meetings of the PLF were shifted to Re-destro's mansion, a labyrinth of identical corridors, lavish rooms that stank of wealth built upon foundations and corporations that concealed this singular secret of their true loyalties. Said loyalties, once pledged to Destro, then to his son, were now transferred onto Tomura Shigaraki.

The young man sat at the head of the council table. The table was in a semicircular shape, with the lieutenants taking a seat each. These meetings, a daily routine, were something Dabi didn't enjoy.

And with the agenda of this one, he was about to enjoy them far less.

"I'm pairing you guys up. Each pair will lead a squadron of their own. I don't care what you guys do to them. Just make sure that when I assign your squad something, it gets done. Got it?" After waiting for a general murmur of assent, Shigaraki passed a sheet of paper to Mr Compress, who stood up to read the pairings.

"Re-destro and me, Trumpet and Twice, Skeptic and Spinner, Dabi and Apocrypha —"

_Goddammit. _Dabi shot the girl a look, who had been looking at the table the whole time. Even as her name was called, she hadn't looked up, her eyes frozen to the grey marble.

"Toga, you're with me." Compress looked up from the paper. Toga stuck her tongue out. "Fine."

"Thanks, Compress." Shigaraki said. The performer nodded and sat back down. "So, we're done with everything, yeah? City's repaired, the media's finally shut their mouths and stopped annoying us, all that garbage. Good…"

"Let's talk destruction." Shigaraki's statement was met with silence. Dabi felt the tension in the room spike. He was curious to hear what the leader of the PLF had to say on his ambition.

"Re-destro, I've looked at your plans. I gotta say, I'm impressed. I like the idea."

"Thank you, great leader," Re-destro replied, smiling widely, perhaps out of a fear that still manifested even as they were technically on the same side. Dabi hid a grin of his own.

"What's the idea?" Toga asked. "I wanna know."

Shigaraki picked up a piece of paper on the desk. "Basically, they want to slowly get people on their side, by spreading their message. It'll be non-violent, at first," Shigaraki emphasised the last two words, "But once it reaches a lot of people, they'll start their attacks."

Licking his lips, he continued, "Attack the major cities with the members, cause chaos, cause destruction. Show them the strength of the average citizen, how even they can overpower heroes. Broadcast this country-wide. Re-destro and his political parties will swoop in and take charge, offering assistance, offering anarchy – within their control. This'll create a divide between the hero society and the Liberation Front. Slowly, with more attacks and threats, more and more will join our side. Until Japan is ours."

"Wow." Toga breathed, grinning. The feeling was mutual with Dabi. He was impressed too.

"But," Tomura put the paper down, "I'm not patient enough to wait. I like the idea of getting them to our side via desperation, not genuine belief in the ideals. So here's my change."

"Start small, going for the small towns and villages around Deika City. Take over Kyoto first. From there, the rest of Japan. Destroy society and everything within it."

"That's great and all," Dabi interjected, drawing a look from Shigaraki, "But isn't this a little rushed?"

"Yeah, I was getting to that," Shigraki droned with mild annoyance, waving a hand dismissively at Dabi, who retorted with kicking his legs on the table. "We're going to lay low for a week, scrub whatever's left of the media off our backs, don't draw anymore attention. Use that time to get your squads in order. By next Friday, we're starting."

Shigaraki spun in his chair. "That's all I have for you guys. Dismissed."

People got up and began to leave, Dabi with them, until he heard Tomura call, "Dabi. Here."

The fire-user turned back to see Shigaraki pointing at the empty space in front of his chair. He stalked up to the boy. "What is it?"

"I didn't toss you and Apocrypha together by throwing darts. I need you to get your shit together. This...whatever it is between you two, stop it."

"No idea what you mean," Dabi said.

"I saw you two fight last night from the tower. It wasn't exactly subtle. So yeah, end this little fight of yours."

"I am trying to end it. That bitch is insane, constantly blabbering about her precious 'meta-ability' and her army. She's trying to kill me because she thinks Re-destro's orders are still in effect, so I'm going to kill her first."

"You kill her, I kill you." Dabi froze for a moment under the red glare of Shigaraki's cold irises, and the threat that came from his mouth. "No one's going to murder anyone within the League – Liberation Front, whatever. I'm not having my lieutenants start a civil war under my nose, not when we have this much going for us."

His ears burning, Dabi shook off the instance of trepidation that he felt from Shigaraki, and answered back hotly, "She's not one to listen to reason. Have you tried talking to her? She's mental."

"I don't have time to deal with this bullshit. I'll do something if things get out of hand. Otherwise, you're solving this on your own. That's final."

"Hey." Dabi took a step forward. "You have a lot of nerve, y'know? You go through some epiphany shit and now you think you're the next boss. We ain't chums, but I ain't your servant either. I have my own things to look out for too."

"Oh yeah?" Shigaraki got to his feet, meeting Dabi's stare with equal intensity. "What 'own things'? Come to think of it, I still don't know who you are, just your name, quirk, and what you've done. To me, you're the same as any random soldier in the Front, especially Apocrypha."

"Don't compare me to her!" Dabi hissed, brandishing a spark of fire.

"I'm sure as hell going to if it riles you up so much." Shigaraki knocked aside Dabi's raised arm with a backhand. "I let you go your own way because I don't believe in ordering you guys around, but now that I'm leading more than a small group, I'm changing my style. You're settling things with Apocrypha, got it?"

The two stared at each other with cold fury for a second, before Dabi spat, "Fine." and spun on his heel to exit the room.

—-


	8. Chapter 8: Touya & Geten

"Hey." Dabi slammed the door behind him. Apocrypha didn't turn around from the window.

"You have 10 seconds to leave my room." Was her soft greeting. It wasn't a growl nor a hiss, more of a polite threat, and that signified something Dabi couldn't pinpoint.

Dabi bit back a retort. If he hadn't just talked with Dabi, he would have shot back with, "Or?" He leaned against the door. "Look, since we're commanding this squad as equals," He said, resisting a snort on the last word, "can we put a pause on this?"

"I don't believe in ceasefires. They only lead to betrayal."

"I'm telling you, I'm not going to. Even if I wanted to, Shigaraki wouldn't let me."

"Really?" She replied with sardonicism. "You mean to say your leader would favour me, an enemy-turned-ally, over you, one of his allies from before the merger?"

_Ugh, when you put it like that..._Dabi pulled his face with a groan. "He's our _leader_ now." The statement left a sour taste in his mouth.

"Hm." She turned around. "I find that hard to believe."

"He's still in the council room, if you need proof. Go ask him yourself." Dabi jerked a thumb at the door.

"I don't want anything to do with your leader."

_Dear god._ Dabi closed his eyes and took a breath. "Fine, all I came here is to tell you that I'm going to be looking through our squad. I have their information here. Would you like to join me or keep staring at the window?"

"Do it here then. And you only need to tell me their Meta Abilities. I will know them." She turned back to gazing out the window.

"If you say so. I'm gonna sit down."

Receiving no reply, he muttered, "I'll take that as a yes." Plopping himself down on the sofa, he took out the papers in his pockets and read out, feeling quite stupid, but at least she wasn't trying to impale him.

"There's only three we need to care about. The rest are cannon fodder. First up, some guy with a quirk called Ethershark."

"Charioteer," Geten responded immediately. "He's decent, but he's useless if his husk is attacked while he's activating his quirk. Otherwise, he's ideal for causing chaos and providing a distraction."

"Uh huh…" Dabi scanned the information on him. "So he summons a ghost shark and his body can't move." He whistled. "Sounds cool."

He heard Geten scoff, drawing his attention. She still was staring out the window. "Do you judge the efficacy of meta abilities based on how flashy they are? That's a poor criteria."

"Lighten up, will you?" Dabi said, a flicker of anger passing over his expression. "Anyway, the second guy's quirk is Gasoline."

Geten made a noise — a noise so foreign and unnatural Dabi's head shot up in alarm. It took him a brief moment, a click in his head, to realise that she was laughing. A genuine laugh of finding something funny.

"Him? He's one of the strongest ones in our squad?" She said, guffawing, bringing a hand to her mouth to stifle it, to little effect. "The standards have really fallen, haven't they?"

"It synergizes with my quirk very well. Maybe that's why Shigaraki put him under me." Dabi said the last sentence more to himself. _Damn, he actually planned this decently. _

"I hope so," She snorted, and it amazed Dabi that for once, she wasn't the target of her disdain and hatred. "Otherwise, all he can do is make people slip, or if he actually managed to use one of his lit matches. Either way, I could easily defeat him."

"I'm sure you could," Dabi humoured.

"Stop with your sarcasm. It's infuriating," Geten shot with that emotionless voice of hers.

"Stop with your hypocrisy. It's infuriating," Dabi replied, met with silence. _Shit, is she going to –_

"Whatever." Was her dismissal. Dabi blinked. _Is she really like this now? _

Then it hit him. Their fight. She thought she had lost. She thought he had fire left in him. She had no idea he had been equally powerless then. _That means...hmm..._

"Anyway," He continued, trying to keep his voice passive as a smile crept over his face. "The last guy, his is called Beatdown."

"What?"

"What, what?"

"What's his quirk?" She sounded bewildered.

"Beatdown. He has enhanced stamina and muscle strength. His nerves become more resistant to damage as he becomes more – Hey!" Dabi said indignantly as his paper was snatched from Geten, who scanned through it with wild eyes.

"Is he one of yours? Another criminal?" She interrogated.

"No, he's from your army. What's the big deal?" Dabi leaned back on the sofa, annoyed. "Not like you guys aren't always trying to hook new people in."

"This man. I don't know him. I should. I know everyone."

"What? All hundred thousand of you guys?"

"Only the strong ones. It narrows the list by quite a bit. And this man, whoever he is, his ability is strong. I would have noticed it. Someone's been hiding him, and...maybe more." Geten ended the sentence mumbling to herself, her eyes gradually unfocusing. She dropped the paper onto his lap, heading towards the door.

"Should I ask where you're going?" Dabi said.

"No."

The door slammed mbehind her, leaving Dabi alone in her room. He frowned, picking up the information sheet on the Beatdown guy.

"Why's she freaking out about that guy? Jeez…" Dabi studied his quirk for a while before deciding that it was an admittedly powerful quirk.

He looked around the empty hotel room. Geten had apparently been holed up here since the night of their victory over the Liberation Army. Her clothes were strewn in the closet and her bed was an unkempt mattress on the floor. Dabi thought about the room he had in Re-destro's mansion. Though it was filthy with wealth, if he got to exploit it, he wasn't complaining.

He wondered why Geten still stayed here. He was quite sure the other lieutenants had relocated to the mansion like him.

He stood up, surveying the room. He saw what looked like a notebook on the desk and snatched it. Flipping through the pages yellowed from age, he saw the first few pages filled with handwriting exercises. Messy scrawls that slowly straightened out into neat repetitive words meant for practices. Then, it was someone's journal. _Hers? Possibly. _

He sat down on the chair next to the desk and began to read.

_**4/2/01 Thursday**_

_**Very tired. I spent the whole day training. I can separate an ice cube into two now. The Grand Commander said he wanted me to be able to split one into five by the end of the week. Hope I can do it. **_

_**7/2/01 Sunday **_

_**I disappointed the Grand Commander. He did that thing again. It hurts, but he told me he would stop once I could split an ice cube into 5 pieces. I can't disappoint him again. I'll make him proud. **_

_**I tried to put some ice on the bruises and make them stay as cold as possible. Maybe this is also part of my training. **_

Dabi slammed the journal on the table with shaking hands, and then slowly backed away.

_I'll make you proud, father. I'll make ice and fire, _He had said, another memory resurfacing.

"Fuck," He murmured, forcing the thought back down. He repeated that word to himself over and over again as he left the room. _Why'd you read it? Bad idea, very bad idea._

He scrambled to the bathroom. He plunged his hands into the sink and began to wash them. He wasn't sure what he was scrubbing off. He gasped as the familiar pain latched onto his arms and bit. It was milder than usual, but it still hurt.

Looking into the mirror once more, he saw more than himself now. He saw Touya Todoroki as a boy, a boy emboldened with a purpose to be the strongest Todoroki. At the same time, he saw a poor girl forced to do Re-destro's bidding, till she..._Dear god._

_This sick, twisted army. _

Dabi hated them now more than ever.

**–––––––**

**Hello, fast update, yes? Well, not for long. I've sacrificed my math and physics grades to do this. Here's hoping I can time manage better soon. Or now. Or tomorrow. **

**Feedback would be very much appreciated. Or just a follow or favourite if you're genuinely interested in this story or find it deserving of a +1. Don't do so otherwise. Thanks. **

**-CompletelyAnonymous**


	9. Chapter 9: Seeds Of Discord

Geten barged into the room.

Trumpet eyed her through his tinted glasses. "Apocrypha. To what do I owe the pleasure?" He said coolly.

"I know about Takame. Why is he under me, why do I not know about him, and what do you and Skeptic know that I don't?" She slammed the door behind her.

"So many questions. Ever the curious one, aren't you?" Trumpet got up from his chair, sighing. "To answer them: Shigaraki made the call, not me, to assign him to your squad. You might not have known because you've simply been becoming more nearsighted. Losing your touch, perhaps?"

"No meta ability was listed on the database. Takame's was omitted. It's not you, nor Skeptic's, to oversee this mistake, is it?" She pushed on with her questioning.

"We're all flawed. Do pardon my error, won't you? And it is _my _error, not Chikazoku's. Leave him out of this." Putting his hand on his heart, he gave a bow towards her. She balled her fist at this mockery.

"Your theatrics might work on the masses, politician, but not on me. We both know why you're hiding him – _them_, from me." She growled.

"Then I have no need to explain them to you." Trumpet pushed his glasses up, fixating her with a cool stare.

"You're trying to remove me from my position, aren't you?" The words burst from her mouth in her fury, and desperation. She needed to hear the affirmation, even though she knew that it was mutual knowledge.

She wanted him to say yes, but no – he laughed, the sound of glee melting her hardened glare.

"So afraid...so, so afraid," He said. "You must be mistaken, Apocrypha. I'm simply protecting them. For their safety."

"From me?"

"Yes…" A flicker of annoyance passed over his face before he smiled ruefully once more. "From you."

The silence that followed only heated the tension in the room.

_Kill him. Quickly. He's threatening you. _She considered it, but recalled what Dabi had said about Shigaraki. Would she be punished if she killed Trumpet right now?

_He's lying. Dabi. Shigaraki. Trumpet. They're all deceiving me. _

She raised her right arm.

Trumpet immediately swung his right arm forward. A band on his wrist expanded and morphed into…

As Geten brandished her icicles at the politician, she found a gun aimed directly at her forehead.

"Bastard." She whispered. "Guns aren't part of meta abilities. This violates what we stand for."

"I don't take chances." Trumpet's eyes were narrowed. "I had Skeptic make one for me. After all, my meta ability has no effect on you."

"Also, what do we stand for, Apocrypha? What is becoming of our army, now that our supreme leader is dethroned, and in his place, a boy?" He continued, his voice rising, cadence building. "While we establish a new army from the old, and pretend that order is present, I don't see the same within us lieutenants. Then again, I never did even when Re-destro was in power." He rested a finger on the trigger.

"If you kill me," Geten blurted out, her heart thumping against her chest, "Shigaraki will kill you. Will you take that chance?"

One second passed. "No," he answered. Then he enunciated his next words, as clear as her ice. "Leave."

Geten stared at Trumpet the same way she would stare at a wolf. Her expression was like iron, as was his. His gaze bore into her. _Show no weakness, _she told herself.

She took a step backwards.

She wasn't afraid. She knew she had the same amount of leverage as he did. One discreet movement of her fingers, and he would be impaled against the wall. The same could be said about her. One step back.

She was not afraid. Trumpet had never killed a man before, much less fought one. She was the highest ranking soldier in the Front. He would never pull the trigger. He was bluffing. One step back.

She had never been afraid of Trumpet. The man cowered behind the meat shields that were his followers, barking orders at them, while she fought with every fiber of her being. She had seen blood spilt a thousand times, while he'd probably vomit at the sight of a corpse. One. Step. Back.

Her fingers felt for the door handle, grasping blindly. Had she even blinked once the whole time?

_His hand is shaking. He's going to shoot! _She screamed at herself, her skin prickling upon sensing danger. Alarm bells rang in her head. But she forced her hand to stay. She kept staring at him.

His face remained impassive throughout. The politician had perfected his mask, but Geten saw through it. He was panicky, terrified of her power and superiority over him. That made him unstable. He was not a calm assassin: just a boy wielding a gun – dangerous.

She found the doorknob. She paused. _Will the creaking startle him? Will he shoot? Put up a wall, damn it. _She kept her hand steady.

The door opened.

Taking a last step backwards, she threw herself to the left.

There was no loud bang. No pain in her chest. What did it even feel like to be shot? She began to walk in that direction, her legs moving faster than her mind could tell it to.

She walked, her pace brisker than normal. Her heart was beating...her hands were shaking, her legs felt as though they were liquefying, but she didn't make a sound nor stop walking.

Finally, she turned the corner. She collapsed on the floor and exhaled the breath she had been carrying. The breath came out in a horrid gasp, with tears spilling down her face. She quickly looked to the left and right. _No one. _

Placing a hand on her heart, she took deep breaths, as though she had resurfaced on land after an eternity underwater.

Then she pulled herself against the corridor wall, tucking her knees towards her, and permitted herself to sob into them.

She thought, _I'm scared. God, I'm scared. _

_..._

_Why? _

–––––

The crimson feather at the top of the corridor where Geten was vibrated with the most minute of movements, relaying the sounds back to the winged hero, who was walking right below Apocrypha. He listened to her.

_Hm, guess she's afraid of guns. Problem solved, _he joked with himself. The humour went sour at the thought of whose expense it was at, as well as the controlled sobs that both dampened his mood and confused him.

He'd marked Apocrypha as one of the more dangerous soldiers on his list, having heard of the sheer power of her quirk from other Deika residents and from Twice. He had rattled on about how she had unleashed a massive glacier that killed both friend and foe during the battle, in order to eliminate his army of clones. Bubaigawara had said it as one of his jokes – Hawks assumed – that he had both cried and laughed at, and while Hawks had chuckled in return, a chill went down his spine at the thought of such a soldier fighting the heroes.

She had seemed so merciless and – to his disgruntlement at the unintentional pun – cold, that hearing her cry was odd. Why was she crying? If he was to believe the stories surrounding this mysterious figure under a hood, Apocrypha had faced hundreds or thousands in combat and probably looked death in the eye many times, something he himself could attest to.

And now here she was, just a few metres above him, sobbing in what he assumed was fear. He was tempted to ask her, but decided against it. Doing so would either stoke more animosity or suspicion. As far as she knew, he was on the League of Villains, the group she considered an enemy.

Still, it seemed that the MLA was no longer her home either. Hawks knew Apocrypha no longer followed Re-destro, albeit she still subscribed to the beliefs of the latter's father. She said as much during that contemplation of hers. He shook his head. _Poor girl. _

And judging from her earlier interaction with one of the other lieutenants, Hanabata, he doubted her loyalties lied with anyone in particular. In essence, she was blindly following a path she had been misled into in the first place.

Perhaps, and this was a far-fetched idea, even to himself, if he could convince her to join him, the heroes would have a powerful ally when the fight came. Still, his mission was unchanged, and she was not on his list of priorities.

It was someone else within the PLF.


	10. Chapter 10: Apocrypha's Sins

Dabi spent his Friday evening slouched over the counter, occasionally sipping from his whiskey. The bar was quite empty for a Friday night, with only a few customers scattered around the chairs and stools.

"Hey," Dabi called. The bartender, a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties, looked at him.

"What else can I get for you, sir?" He asked politely.

"Is this place usually this empty at this time?" Dabi swept an arm around.

The bartender chuckled. "If anything, I gained more customers, probably thanks to you lot. You're part of the League, right?"

"Were, I suppose," Dabi said boredly, but straightening up to rest his head on his palm. "Why?"

"You guys defeating the army depressed the hell out of some of 'em. Usually their doctrine frowns upon drinking – something about wasting their days when they could be practicing, but after their commander was overthrown, I saw a big turnout that night. Largest I've ever had."

"You keep saying them…" Dabi frowned, recalling something Hanabata had said. "Are you the 10% of people in Deika who aren't part of the army?"

"Damn right. I've no intention of joining their crazy mission." The bartender looked at a customer at one of the tables, nodded, and started to prepare a drink. "Only thing that sucks is getting caught in the crossfire."

"Ah." Dabi took another sip. "You look alright for a guy whose city was nearly destroyed."

The bartender waved his hand dismissively, the other placing the finished drink on the counter for collection. "I ain't talking about what Shigaraki did. I like the guy. He taught these delusional people a lesson. My problem…" He leaned in slightly closer, lowering his voice. "Is with the army themselves."

"Really? I thought you would hate me and the League," Dabi said.

"I got no issue with you folks. But I hate the soldiers. Especially the ice-man. Apocrypha, or whatever his name is."

"Huh." Was Dabi's response, though his mind was whirling. He didn't need that girl on his mind, though he was curious enough to ask, "What's wrong with him?"

"He's merciless, cruel. I don't know if you saw, but during the fight, I heard from some of these guys here, he took out so many of his guys just to get rid of the army of clones from Bubaigawara Jin."

"Right…" Dabi's mind flashed back to that glacier that sent entire houses into the air, along with the blood of both Twice's clones and the Liberation Army. He had been both disgusted and awed by the audacity of that move. Now, he felt more disturbed than anything. "Yeah, I was there. You were safe?"

"Yeah, my house was on the other side of the city. I didn't go out that day when I saw all the soldiers marching towards the centre. Wherever the army gathers, it's good to not go there," The bartender said. He paused, and then added grimly, "Some of my friends didn't heed that advice."

"Oh." Dabi swallowed. The statement sounded like a backhand threat or a lash of anger, but looking at the man's face, he strangely did not detect any sign of hatred.

"Honestly, they got what they deserved." He gave a smile, pouring two glasses of whiskey and passing one to Dabi. "It's on the house. I haven't had a good talk in a long time."

"Cheers." Dabi grinned. The glasses clinked, and the two took a good gulp of the burning liquor.

"Is it dangerous here?" Dabi said as he set down his glass on the countertop.

"Pah, not really. Until last week, the army hadn't really done anything, only train over and over again. At least, that's what I could see. Maybe underground, they've been up to something, but I'll be honest – I doubt they ever had plans to expand."

"Yeah," Dabi said non-committedly, thinking about the plans Shigaraki had laid out, taken from Re-destro's strategies.

"And honestly, I couldn't leave even if I wanted to. They wouldn't let me." The bartender grimaced, taking another gulp. "Not that it's illegal, but the leaders – those guys in that tower, they make it sound illegal, so everyone knows it's illegal. You get what I mean?"

Dabi nodded slowly. He had to admit, the way Re-destro and his lieutenants kept Deika city controlled was impressive: Not with an iron fist, but soft, persuasive whispers. Noting that this man here was likely subjugated by them in all by thought, he asked a question.

The question was probably influenced by the thoughts in his head, and the alcohol. "About that gi – guy, Apocrypha, what's he like?"

The bartender's expression tightened, and Dabi wondered if he'd touched on something personal – Apocrypha had apparently killed his friends, though he hadn't seemed very affected by it.

"Whoever that man is under that hood, he's a monster. I've grown up here my whole life, and I've never seen a soldier so addicted to the cause. Now, I'm no soldier, but even I understand the camaraderie that soldiers _should _share. Apocrypha has no feelings. He does horrible things…" The bartender leaned in closer, till Dabi could smell the whiskey on his breath. "And I'm not talking about what happened last week, but what he's been doing since he joined."

"What d'you mean?" Dabi asked, a sense of foreboding sending chills down his spine, while his stomach bubbled with curiosity and trepidation.

"Hey, Dabi!" A cheerful voice made him and the bartender look at the man who had just entered. The crimson wings made it obvious.

"Hey, Hawks." Dabi waved. The hero walked up to them.

"You want anything, Hawks?" The bartender asked.

"I'm good, thanks man." Hawks replied, eliciting a nod from him. While the bartender busied himself with washing some glasses, Dabi turned around on his stool to face Hawks.

"What's up?" Dabi said.

"Some people are looking for you." Hawks glanced around, noting the few other customers within earshot. He gestured towards the exit.

Sighing, Dabi gulped down the last of his drink, thanked the bartender and left with Hawks.

* * *

_A few hours ago..._

_Shigaraki knocked aside Dabi's raised arm with a backhand. "I let you go your own way because I don't believe in ordering you guys around, but now that I'm leading more than a small group, I'm changing my style. You're settling things with Apocrypha, got it?"_

_The two stared at each other with cold fury for a second, before Dabi spat, "Fine." and spun on his heel to exit the room. _

Shigaraki watched Dabi leave the council room. Once the door was shut, he sat down on his chair and tapped his earpiece. "Still there, Ujiko?"

"You actually sounded convincing," The doctor's voice came in reply. "Not the Dabi-Apocrypha thing. The plan you gave them. I almost believed it myself."

"Good, it'll throw them off the scent for a while. You've kept up your end of the deal, right?" Shigaraki said.

"Yes. Come, I'll show you everything." At this, Shigaraki felt the build-up of that muck in his mouth. He'd experienced it so many times he no longer gagged or retched.

The mossy-green ooze expanded and enveloped him. He lost vision temporarily as the nauseating feeling churned in his stomach for a second before disappearing. He blinked, finding himself in Ujiko's lab. The doctor himself stood before him. No chair, nothing shrouding him from sight, just him standing with his lab coat and silver glasses.

"Tomura Shigaraki, Kyudai Garaki. It's a pleasure to work with you." He gave a nod of respect. "You and All For One are the only two that know my true name. I trust that you'll keep it that way."

* * *

**Story might be less Dabiten-driven for a while, but I gotta set up the premise fully, then I'll get back into developing the relationship between the two. Hope you guys can understand and hopefully will enjoy the plot too. I'd appreciate any feedback and votes. Thanks again.**


	11. Chapter 11: Tomura Shimura

"So, Shigaraki, what will you do now?" Garaki asked as the two walked down the path.

"You told me you could give me the power to destroy everything. I want it," Shigaraki said.

"Very well, but first, let's have another little chat. If I'm going to help you, I need to know what exactly you plan to achieve." Garaki gestured to two chairs in front of a hive of screens.

Once the two sat down, Shigaraki opened, "I just said it. Destroy everything. I don't need the army. I'll send them to do some random shit, make the heroes think that I have some grand scheme. I don't, that is, if you're not lying about this experiment, I can do it all by myself."

"I've told you, it works. Do you not remember?" Garaki said, slightly affronted.

Shigaraki let the silence hang at the chiding undertone and eyed the doctor. "I remember everything now. Everything." He saw Garaki shrink slightly under his glare. It was unspoken, but what was implied passed between the two.

"I figured as much, judging from the awakening of your quirk," Garaki murmured, unable to conceal a hint of nervousness. "Do you hate me and your sensei, Shigaraki?" A bead of sweat dripped down the doctor's bald head.

Shigaraki didn't answer at first. Instead he looked down at his repaired hand; it looked no different than the hands of Everyone. He took a deep breath. "My family is gone. I killed them. I've...I think I've accepted that. The weight of them is gone. Sensei is the only family I have left – That's what I thought. So I don't hate you or him, because you've raised me. But that's the thing, isn't it?"

Shigaraki looked up at the doctor. "The two of you raised me into a monster. Sensei's monster. I'm both his student and his masterpiece. That disgusts me."

Garaki sweat. "But you said–"

"I might hate you, but I still respect you for your help." Shigaraki nodded as a mark of acknowledgment. "I hate Sensei now as much as I love him. So if you're thinking I'll break into Tartarus to release him, you're wrong."

"I – I see."

Shigaraki continued with no relent. "I'm not following you, not Sensei, not anyone. I'm doing things my own way, and I have the League, the Liberation Army, and your help. So, doctor, tell me now, will you give it?"

Garaki was visibly stunned by this abrupt display of power, but he recovered with an expression Shigaraki could only define as admiration and a hint of fear. "You'll have it, Shigaraki. The power you desire."

"And what do you want in return? I assume the conversation would have led here at some point," He said sharply.

Garaki did not answer for a few seconds. "Let me live." Was Garaki's simple reply. "I've no wish to die now. Not ever."

Shigaraki nodded. "I'm sure that's what the League wants too. I'm not stopping any of you."

"And you? Don't you want to live too, Shigaraki?"

Tomura Shigaraki smiled, an action society associated with happiness. But Tomura was not part of society. He smiled because he could not reconcile with the twisted emotions haunting him. Despite all that had happened, he would never be able to fill that hole in his heart. He smiled because he understood something the Garaki, All For One, and everyone else in the world could never comprehend. He understood that...

"Live or die, I will one day be watching the most beautiful horizon of oblivion alone, forever."

* * *

"Ah, so you're the squad." Dabi eyed the three men in front of him. "But I thought I had another three…?"

"The rest are scattered across the country. They may return if needed, but otherwise they were posted on Skeptic's request." One of them spoke up, his voice muffled by the skull mask he wore on his face.

"You're Kami, right? Gasoline quirk?" Dabi asked.

"Yes, sir."

"I don't recall seeing any of you. Where were you guys the past week?"

"Each of us takes charge of a squadron in a province. We were just close enough to Deika City to return home for tonight," Another spoke up, his head oddly shaped, more akin to that of a shark than a human. _Charioteer_, Dabi guessed.

"Which reminds us, we must go. It's starting." The third spoke. Shingu Takame, Beatdown. Dabi was stunned by how seemingly old he was. He could see the wrinkles around his face, and he was bald. Despite wearing a suit and tie, for whatever reason, Dabi could see his broad build. _This is the person she was worried about. Why, though?_

"Yeah, come on." Dabi motioned for the rest to follow. The walk there was silent; Dabi found that the soldiers of the Liberation Front usually maintained a cold exterior. _These guys aren't any different, _he observed. _Same as her. _

He gritted his teeth, correcting himself. _No, she's not, unless these guys were forced by Re-destro and those bastards too._

They reached the secret entrance to their underground meeting chamber. While the three congregated with the rest of the massive crowd, Dabi walked up the stairs and took his seat with the rest of the lieutenants, some arriving, others already present. He saw Re-destro sitting a few seats away from him, watching all the soldiers like a proud mother hen with that trademark smile of his he'd seen on TV.

He bit back a snarl, a part of him wanting to burn that smile off his face. _Not now, _he cautioned. _Soon. _

"Hey." Compress' voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Dabi looked at him as he sat down beside him. "What're you looking at Re-destro for?"

"Don't like him," Dabi replied. It was a truth.

"You and Twice, huh? Jin still hasn't forgiven him for what he did to Giran, but he's restraining himself because of this alliance and Shigaraki's orders."

"What about you? You mean you ain't pissed?" Dabi watched Re-destro get up from his seat and address the crowd, heralding the arrival of the Grand Commander.

"I don't hold grudges, unless they ruin a performance of mine." Atsuhiro leaned back on his seat, relaxing his arms on the armrests. "If we're going to be working together, might as well forgive and forget."

"That's nice," Dabi mechanically said, as Shigaraki emerged onto the stage. "I think I'll pass on using the power of friendship."

Compress sighed. "You gotta drop it with Apocrypha. She doesn't seem so aggressive now, anyway. She did think you won that fight, didn't she?"

Dabi saw the hooded girl in his peripheral, sitting quietly with her head drooping. Perhaps she was listening to Shigaraki giving his address, perhaps she was ignoring it in its entirety.

"Yeah," he said sourly, recalling what he had seen in her diary. All thoughts of lording his "victory" over her had died in that instant. "But it's not her. It's Re-destro."

"I see. Well, don't kill him like you tried with Apocrypha." Compress turned to face Shigaraki's form standing at the forestage. Dabi listened in to the remainder of Shigaraki's speech as well.

"You know your regiment leaders. Train hard this week, because we're starting the next Liberation Festival in the next. That's all." Having finished, Shigaraki turned around and walked backstage, to resounding applause and cheers.

Dabi caught a glimpse of Shigaraki's expression. He was unsure of how to define it, but he recognised it well. As he walked through the tunnels out of the chamber, he kept coming back to that expression, that look on his leader's face.

He knew that Shigaraki was lying. Something about what he said was false. _That damn look on his face... _

Dabi had worn that same expression before their last job. Before he realised it, Touya Todoroki's memories resurfaced once more.

"_You'll cover me, right?" Touya said, looking at his mentor and partner. _

_Dabi looked at him. "I got you, don't worry. Let's go." He had a look on his face, a calmness to it, but also something else behind it that Touya had noticed, but had not registered. A subtle side glance. A tensing of his lips. _

_Touya took a deep breath. His hands burned with orange fire, like the rising sun. _

_As Dabi leapt down from the roof, Touya followed._

"Stop," Dabi said out loud, pulling himself from his memories. He had no desire to reminisce about that time. "Just forget it." But he could not.

Finding himself alone having split off from the rest of the crowd, he sighed and with his hands in his pockets, he headed back to his room for a restless sleep.

* * *

**Hi, just wanted to express some gratefulness to those who like this. I'm aware that this sort of story and its subgenres of a straight-ship, slowburn romance that takes a backseat to the plot, etc...they aren't the most popular in this fandom, but I write what I like to see, so I'm hoping that this story can be enjoyed by that one particular audience that also likes stories that aren't 100% fluff. **

**Dabiten isn't even that popular compared to ships like Dabihawks or Dabiraki, so I hope that this story can be that story every Dabiten shipper would enjoy. So again, thanks.**


	12. Chapter 12: The Rivalry Ends

Geten opened the door to see the winged hero leaning against the opposite wall, tapping his feet to the music on his earphones.

"What do you want?" Geten said. Hawks looked up and gave a smile. Before he opened his mouth, she followed up, "Get to the point. I don't do niceties. Or introductions. I don't care if we haven't met before properly."

Hawks casually pocketed his earphones. "Just wanted to congratulate you on your squad leadership." He replied with a cheery smile on his face, but his eyes told an entirely separate story. They reminded her of the predator he took his name from.

_That's it? _Geten turned to walk down the hallway, knowing that would trigger what he actually –

"Hope you can resist killing them too." Came the predicted drawl from behind.

She stopped in her tracks. _So he knows?_

"What's it to you whether they live or die?" She turned to look at him, hands in her pockets, controlling the ice cubes inside.

"Well, killing your own allies is counter-productive, isn't it? Especially if they're strong."

"Not to me."

"Still, I'm here to ask you to stop with your...hobbies."

"I haven't done anything since the festival."

"So you've washed off their blood so easily?"

Geten crossed her arms. "You sound like you have experience, _hero._"

Hawks was quick to relax the tense expression that was elicited from her emphasis. "Maybe, maybe not, but you most definitely have, and that brings me to another question: Do you feel safe?"

_That's not what you're asking. What do you really want, number two hero? _His face didn't give anything away, just a smile that Hanabata and his colleagues taped on their faces all the time.

"Is that a threat?" She opened her palm lazily, and an ice cube left her pocket to swirl around it.

"Not from me. I'm just stating facts. When everyone finds out you've killed people to get to where you are, and to stay where you are, it's gonna be a problem."

"Trumpet, Skeptic and Curious had no problem, and Re-destro basically gave me permission to." That much was true. He told her that she was the top soldier in the Liberation Army. She simply kept it that way.

"Then why did they keep a secret list of soldiers away from the database?"

_How did he…?_

"How much have you been snooping around, Hawks?" Geten accused, "I don't think everyone likes a spy, either."

"The Liberation Army won't, but the League will."

"Sounds like you're having trouble telling that we're on the same side," Geten lied.

"Hmm. Well I have a hard time trusting people. If I could trust you, I'd feel much better."

"You came here to talk about my past, and you ask for an...alliance? Your negotiation skills are garbage, Hawks." Geten pointed out.

He chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "Sorry. I'm terrible at talking. But if you ever find out which side you're on, let me know. I'm interested in where you stand in all...this. But that's all from me, cheerios!"

Having said this, he opened the window next to him and leapt out, leaving Geten staring at where he was. Something felt off with that hero-villain, Geten could tell, as though she had divulged too much information – information that he wanted.

_Ignore him, I have to train, _she thought as she created her ice platform and left the hotel.

She arrived at her training ground to find Dabi already present, to her annoyance. He was shooting fire towards some large boulders.

Surprisingly, no blast of fire came her way, only a scowl and a "What are you doing here? It's 6 in the morning."

_Still, better than his last method of greeting._

"I always train here at this time. It's next to the river." She pointed to the body of water just a few yards away. "And why are you training here? Why are you even training at all?"

"It's none of your business whether or not I want to train."

"Fine. I'll be out of your hair."

"Good." He gave a tight nod and returned to burning the large boulders, as Geten glided over to the river, a good fifty meters away from the blaze.

For the next half an hour, the field was silent apart from the occasional shattering of ice and the lull of fire roaring. Geten focused on her training, which revolved around a singular concept: pushing her limits. She repeatedly froze and melted a portion of the river, accelerating the process slowly to improve her efficiency.

Every month, the threshold heightened. Over and over again, she kept this up, until her arms grew sore and her fingers felt as rigid as her ice. But she did not mind, for her goals were unchanged despite everything that had happened.

At the end, she rested by the riverside and drank some water.

Bored, her attention shifted to what Dabi was doing. She looked up to see him doing something peculiar. He was producing fire at his palms, but otherwise he was just standing there staring at it, as though that plume of blue fire was suddenly the most interesting thing in the world.

Then he noticed her. Geten spun her head around, but Dabi began to walk in her direction.

_Shit, what now? Is staring a crime?_

She met his eyes from afar, even as he slowly stalked closer with his hands tucked in his jacket. If he was gonna do something funny, she wasn't backing down.

When he was within earshot, she stood up, glaring. "What?"

"What?" He said, tilting his head to the side.

"You want something?"

"Yeah. Can we swap? You go over there for a couple minutes."

Geten blinked. "Why?"

"Do I need to explain why?" He sounded exasperated.

"Yes. I'm starting my next task soon. I need the river."

"Well, so do I, so if you could piss off for just a minute, that'd be great."

"Oh." _He needs the river? _She glanced down at his arms, which were smoking. "You need to rest your arms, don't you? Dipping them in water?"

His eyes widened, his expression tightening. He took one step forward as Geten braced herself. Then, to her bewilderment, he stopped and laughed.

"You really are observant. Well, you got me." Sensing that there was no need to bother anymore, he bent down and stuck his arms in the river in front of her.

Geten saw his form tense up briefly, as though the river was electrified. Then his body considerably relaxed after a while.

"It...hurts?"

"No shit."

She snorted. "I thought you somehow managed to overcome this flaw by...sheer grit, or something. Turns out you do this. So you did this that night, too?"

"Yeah, right after your temper tantrum."

"Hey!" Geten growled, and Dabi let out a snort, turning back and shaking off the water from his arms.

"Thought you were a strong one," She observed, looking at his raw and singed arms. It looked like a hideous cocktail of grey and red had splashed on his arms.

Dabi blinked, then sighed. "Ok, I'm just gonna tell you the truth. Only because I don't think you're such a stuck-up bit – _person_ anymore."

"Gee, thanks," Geten said.

"I didn't win that duel that night we fought, okay? Even if Compress hadn't stepped in, I didn't have any energy left. It was a draw. So can we just tie a knot on that, and not kill each other from now?"

_Wait...what? But –– how. _Geten found herself frozen in place, her mind unable to form a coherent thought. Then the disbelief morphed into anger that surged through her like steam. Just as abruptly, the heat cooled down, her hatred at this man in front of her dissipating.

She knew the Geten from a week or two ago would have fired a shard of ice the minute he admitted to the truth about their duel, the duel that changed her perception of herself and the _world _entirely. She exited that duel beating herself up over her weakness, but..._maybe I'm not?_

But the memory of her meeting with Hanabata shot to the forefront of her brain, reminding her that she was so utterly powerless against something as simple as a gun and a threat of her position.

"_I'm interested in where you stand in all...this." _Hawks had said.

Her eyes scanned Dabi, looking for some form of malice on that face, but he looked sincere. _What happened?_

"No."

Dabi took a step back. "Oh for –"

"Let me finish. I want to see who's stronger, but not combat. Endurance." Geten clenched her fist.

Dabi arched an eyebrow. "What do you have in mind?"

"Try to melt my ice. If you can, you win. If you run out of steam first, I win."

"Alright then." Dabi shrugged. "Summon your thing."

Geten took out an ice cube from her pocket and chucked it into the river, lowering the temperature of it. She felt more and more water molecules slow down to freezing point. The tingle at her fingertips grew larger. With a smirk, she raised her hand, willing the ice to rise upwards to form a mini glacier, a storey high.

She looked at Dabi and gave a gesture. "Go ahead."

Dabi stretched his fingers. Igniting his hands, he unleashed a stream of azure flames.

The heat hit Geten instantly, the tingle beginning to die as ice melted out of her control. _Not so fast, _she thought, steeling her resolve. She kept the temperature steady, forcing the molecules to slow themselves against Dabi's fire. She was not going to lose this match.

In return, she felt the energy redirected into her own body. Her chest grew warmer by the second. A bead of sweat dripped down her forehead.

She gave a gasp, betraying her exhaustion. Dabi looked at her for a brief second.

"So quick?" Dabi teased, but Geten noted the veins surfacing on his skin, popping out like grey branches. It was clearly hurting him too.

If it was a war of attrition, talking only wasted energy. She stayed silent, focusing her mind on the task.

The ice beneath and around the glacier was redundant. Not needing them, she raised the temperature of them to take some heat off her. It worked; the burn in her chest subsided temporarily.

_How much time had passed? It feels like it's been an hour._

The fire was beginning to thin, just slightly. A smile danced on her lips, but the effort kept her teeth gritted. She would celebrate after she won.

With every second, the ice on the surface, taking the brunt of the fire's rage, melted despite her attempts to freeze them. She shifted her focus onto keeping the core of the glacier as cold as possible. That was how she would win, after all.

Still, time seemed to slow the longer the match stretched. She was not letting up. Neither was he.

Desperation crawled into her burning heart as she saw the glacier slowly shrink like butter in a pan. But she held out hope – Dabi was definitely faltering too, since the fire was also weakening.

_A few more seconds...There's no way he can survive longer. The pain would knock him unconscious. _

Her legs were like melting ice as well; her vision began to blur, seeing just the blue fire, ground, and the black, cloudy shape of Dabi.

_Shit. _Her control slipped, as though she was clinging onto the semi-liquid ice itself. It was but a small mound now, and she wasn't stopping the melting anymore. _Not again._

But then the fire stopped with a gasp, which didn't come from her.

She let go, staggering, but she stood up. The person in front of her was on the floor, clutching his smoking arms.

"I...I win." She choked out, her throat feeling as though she had drank hot water. The statement sounded more like a question towards herself. Why was she doubting it? He had stopped his fire. She just had to hear it first, hear it from him.

"Yeah." Dabi's voice was raspy, tinged with bitterness. He shakily stood up and walked over towards her and the river. "You win."

As he plunged his hands into the water, a smile crept over her lips. Her head was dizzy from exerting herself, but also glee.

_I won. _

She took off her hood and sat down, panting, but her smile never left her. Dabi looked at her, his face scrunched up as he studied her expression. He shook his head.

"You're crazy, you know?" He said.

"Shut up, I won. I'm stronger," She replied.

Dabi hummed, turning his attention back to his arms. "So, are we done here? Truce?"

"Yeah, truce."


	13. Chapter 13: Violet's Assignment

After the training session, Geten returned to her room, the afterglow of her victory still present on her lips. The wind that whipped through her parka as she rode her ice platform felt cooler than usual; she felt more free and giddy. A minute had passed before she realised she had been humming from satisfaction, to a song she did not remember. _Whatever, I won. I won!_

Perhaps her good mood would last for at least a day or two.

But as she reached the window of her floor, she saw a soldier standing outside.

"What?" Geten fixated him with a glare.

He jumped, clearly surprised at her sudden appearance, but recovered himself. With a shaky bow and a total refusal to make eye contact, he passed her an envelope with arms which were trembling even more, and ran off the second she took the letter.

Smirking as she saw him sprint down the hallway, she opened it to see a typewritten message by Shigaraki.

"Emergency meeting, 10am. Usual." His signature was scrawled at the bottom.

_That's a couple of minutes from now. Damn it. _

With a sigh, she created her ice platform once more and glided towards Re-destro's mansion. But as she opened the doors of the council room, she frowned, but then..._Ah, I see, so that's what he wants._

"I assume you want to talk to me alone." Geten scanned the council room, all chairs unoccupied except the one in the middle, where Tomura Shigaraki was leaning back on his, dressed in his black jacket and wearing his signature disembodied hand on his face.

"Take a seat," Shigaraki said. Geten did, and then Shigaraki began.

"Have you and Dabi settled your issues?"

"Somewhat." Geten met the boy's eyes. They were sunken and darkened around the edges, like a skull which refused to die. Those crimson irises were the same ones which had rooted the charging Liberation Army in their place out of pure terror, despite Trumpet's Inciting.

A question arose to her lips, albeit she did not speak it, as those eyes bore into her: _Can he see? Does he have vision? A vision for the Liberation Front? _

These thoughts had formed whenever she saw him address the PLF: at the festival where Re-destro had abdicated his throne, and at yesterday's meeting.

"So you two can lead the Violet Regiment?"

"Yes."

"Good, two more questions." Shigaraki relaxed his arms on the table as he leaned forward. "Who are you, Apocrypha?"

"You know my name."

"Apocrypha? Geten? Iceman?" Shigaraki snorted. "Cut the bullshit, they're your...usernames. The first two mean the same, and it's ironic, because their meaning tells me you don't know the answer either."

"Then why ask me?"

"Because I'm wondering if you want to know."

"No. I have no need for a name for I was Re-destro's weapon. A sword has no need for a name any more than a stray dog does. So please, Shigaraki, get to the point." She ended her speech with a glare.

Shigaraki met it with an indifferent expression, perhaps even surprised by that sudden outburst, but then his cracked lips widened in approval.

"I would've killed you for uttering my name." Shigaraki's smile was unnerving, and Geten flinched despite herself, "but I could tell you're different. You're different from the rest of these cowards."

"When you have 2 CEOs and a politician, and you had a...journalist, or whatever she was, you were never spoken to properly. Everything needed a bush to beat around. I like to disintegrate the whole forest." Shigaraki placed four fingers on the desk. Geten knew he could activate it autonomously now, but she understood his point.

Her hands were off the desk before she realised it. Shigaraki seemed to notice it, and continued,

"I'm asking for your loyalty, because it's bleeding dry in this army. I'm not a new player to this game. You don't take over an enemy city and expect the people to bow down. There's gonna be riots. There's gonna be a lot of plotting. If you're smart you would have realised it by now, or even gotten involved…" He looked at her with a suggestive grin. She kept her face impassive, as a bead of perspiration rolled down her forehead.

"But I get the feeling you like to settle things face to face. You're no assassin, are you? Your skill points seem more geared towards strength." Shigaraki's gaze felt like it was penetrating her mind, probing her thoughts. She felt unsafe – a person walking through an alley at twilight. That person never saw the blade of ice, just darkness, and then darkness eternal.

She felt as vulnerable as the people she had killed.

_Does he know too? There's no way he couldn't, right? He knew about Takame, wouldn't he question Skeptic and Trumpet why he wasn't on the official register? But he said he spoke straightforwardly, not like them. Not like the MLA. _

"Of course not." The words flowed from her mouth before she could think about it. "And…you have my allegiance, Grand Commander." She gave a slight bow of her head, even as her mind was suspended in a frenzied blizzard – blind, in chaos, terrified.

She kept her head down, feeling queasy looking at those red eyes of his. She finally understood why the army had stopped in their tracks then.

"Good. I look forward to seeing what you can do for me," Shigaraki said. "Ah, right on time."

The doors opened behind her as the rest of the PLF lieutenants arrived, one by one.

_So there is a meeting?_ Geten quickly regained her composure. The rest of them could not see her in that state. She could tell some were staring at her, probably curious as to why she was so early. Bowing her head, she made eye contact with no one, her face heating up.

Once everyone was in, with Dabi strutting in last, the meeting commenced.

"We have a problem." Shigaraki stood up. "We wanted to lay low till next Friday. Well, it was going fine, but lately we've been picking up some chatter, chatter directed at us. Skeptic, if you would."

Chikazoku arose with a bow towards Shigaraki and continued with the briefing. "I've been watching the media about the 'Deika City Incident', and it was dying out as expected, but I noticed one source that was constantly publishing article after article about conspiracy theories about the Incident. We're still being talked about, and that cannot happen. I've tried on my own ends to stem the flow, but whoever this group or individual is, they're not stopping. We sent some soldiers from neighbouring provinces to investigate, but they've all went silent. So we're sending Carmine to deal –"

"No." Shigaraki's voice cut in as sharp as a knife. "Send Violet."

"Tomura-kun!" Toga pouted. "I wanted to taste some blood. Send my regiment!"

"No, I want Apocrypha and Dabi to do this."

All eyes were scattered between Shigaraki, Dabi and her. She kept her eyes on the table, flickering upwards as Re-destro began to speak.

"But...great leader," Yotsubashi chuckled nervously. "Isn't it better to send people like Mr Compress and Himiko Toga who can eliminate people silently?"

"Yeah! I like you, Re-destro! Lemme taste your blood!" Toga cheered, waving a knife at Re-destro like a toddler, who shrunk back into his seat looking even more anxious about the mentally insane girl.

"Exactly. I want to see how the two of them deal with an assassination."

The matter seemed to be settled. Even Dabi hadn't spoken a word in protest. Looking at the corner of her eye, he was shrugging. "Whatever. I get to get out of this shithole and burn some people. I'm cool."

"Weren't you late because you were stuffing yourself with ramen?" Spinner deadpanned, receiving a glare from the fire-user.

"We'll get it done, Shigaraki." Dabi ignored the statement.

"As long as you don't draw attention," Compress warned, causing Dabi to wave at him with a "Yeah, yeah, got it."

Then Dabi turned to look at the CEO. "Skeptic, fill us in."

–––––––

Violet Regiment left almost immediately after the meeting. Well, it wasn't so much of a regiment as it was just Dabi and her. They had decided that an assignment of this caliber did not require any cannon fodder. So, after gathering the items needed and taking a shower, the two of them were on a private plane heading to the Tokugawa Prefecture.

"Damn, I could get used to this." Dabi leaned back on his luxury seat, kicking his legs up on the table. Geten, who was seated on the adjacent, opposite seat, snorted.

"You could. But the ride is only a few hours."

"Let me enjoy it, come on." Dabi opened his can of coke and taking a chug.

Sighing, she looked out of the window, seeing the afternoon sky tinted with pink on the horizon. It would be evening when they landed.

"Aren't you wondering why we were sent?" Geten looked back at the relaxing Dabi.

"It's probably a punishment. Either one of us pissed Shigaraki off."

"So you think this whole thing is fake?"

Dabi shrugged. "Maybe. Or Shigaraki doesn't think it's that big of a threat to deal with it properly. Or he doesn't care about us."

"Does that not bother you?" Geten crossed her arms seeing how nonchalant Dabi was.

"Nope. Deika City was getting boring anyway. If I have an excuse to leave, I'm taking it. And Shigaraki can send me wherever he likes, I know when to listen and when to do my own thing. You, on the other hand…" Dabi wagged a finger at her. "You were Re-destro's little puppy, weren't you?"

"Call me that again and I'll slap you." She sent a look of venom his way.

"But you get what I mean." Dabi finished his coke. "From what I can tell, you've spent your whole life at the heels of these MLA snobs. Now, we're here, and you have no idea what you're doing."

"I know what I'm doing. I'm abiding by Destro's principles of the strengths of Meta Abilities. But…" Geten's eyes trailed to the floor. "You got everything else right."

_That's it. That's what I've been missing. _The League was so...free, and the MLA was so stringent with its rules.

"Hey." Dabi's voice made her look up, expecting more taunting, but his expression caught her by surprise. His eyes were unusually soft, his expression not as condescending. Basically, he looked less like himself, if that was even possible. "You don't find anything wrong with that?"

"With what?" She tilted her head curiously.

Dabi opened his mouth, then closed it. Putting his empty can on the table, he said, "Nothing. Why you'd even ask me about this assignment in the first place? Did you do something to Shigaraki?"

_Right, he was late. _

"Well, besides wanting to kill him and everyone else when we met, I can't imagine why he would want to punish me," Geten said.

Dabi saw past her sarcasm studying her expression. "Really, what happened?"

_He could be relaying everything back to Shigaraki. I can't tell him about what I've done, or he'll do something, or not trust me. _

_Why does that matter? Who cares if he knows you've assassinated people? _Another part of her argued. _You can finish this job on your own. _

But that was it, wasn't it? If she finished this assignment flawlessly, Shigaraki's suspicions would be confirmed, assuming he didn't know about her deeds beforehand. And what would happen then? Would he kill her? Lock her up? Demote her to a common foot soldier?

And why was she caring about his trust anyway?

She stared at Dabi, unable to totally decipher his expression, but there was some hint of genuine curiosity, since his eyes were slightly wider than usual. He didn't seem like the type of person that would enact Shigaraki's every order to the extent of spying on her.

_Can I trust you? _She thought.

"He asked me if I wanted to know my name." It was a good-enough truth.

"Really? You don't know yours?" Dabi raised an eyebrow.

"No. And I don't care about it either. My name – even if he actually knows it, won't be a bargaining chip."

"Why? Don't you want to know who you are?"

"It's not important."

"Hm. Okay," He said. He didn't press further, but Geten knew there were a lot of things he left unsaid. The conversation died as Geten turned back to look out the window.

She had a lot of things unsaid too, but saying any of them to the wrong person could spell death for her.

Hawks' words now felt a lot more real, like a spider's web wrapping her up. No, she didn't feel safe. Because, and she realised this with a start – if she didn't need real allies then, she did now.

The word sounded so foreign. Whatever the meaning of it was, she knew at its roots, she just needed people to trust. _And loyalty was bleeding dry in the PLF. _

She looked to the corner of her eye to see Dabi taking a nap. A realisation dawned on her. She had no idea why – It could have been because she had, at the very least, the leverage of strength over him, or that he spoke of Shigaraki and the MLA with disrespect, or the seemingly genuine interest in her name…

But out of all the people in the PLF, if she had to pick one person to trust, it would be him.

_But can I, Dabi? Can I trust you, and would you trust me? _


	14. Chapter 14: The Lonely Road

Dabi pulled the hood over his head as Geten and him crossed the runway. Someone was waiting for them at the hangar, their silhouette visible against the bright lamps.

"That's probably one of Skeptic's men," Geten whispered to him. Dabi nodded.

As they neared, the stranger stood at attention in a blue-collar attire. "Apocrypha, Dabi," He greeted, bowing. "Skeptic has informed me you need a vehicle for transport. A motorcycle, was it?"

"Yeah," Dabi replied. "Only thing I can drive.'

The Liberation soldier nodded. "We've managed to procure a couple for you. Take as many as you want, and good luck on your assignment. I will update Skeptic accordingly."

Gesturing to the row of motorcycles inside the hangar, he bowed once more and left for the air control tower nearby.

"Crazy how spread out you guys are, how have we not noticed you all?" Dabi shook his head in astonishment as the two of them walked over to the bikes.

"We've hidden ourselves well. And stop calling us like we're not you," Geten said.

"Mmhmm…" Dabi murmured distractedly, scanning his choices. He pointed at a dark blue motorcycle. "That one."

"Why that one?" She sounded genuinely curious. "Don't tell me it's –"

"Yep, it looks the coolest. Let's go." Dabi grinned, beginning to enjoy this mission as he leapt onto his new ride.

Sighing, Geten got on behind him. "You know we're on a time limit right? The group will move again in a few hours. This vehicle had better be fast."

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine. Sheesh."

Geten grumbled. "I could just use my ice. We'd save at least ten minutes."

"And show everyone? You're not in Deika City, girl. You get questioned or arrested for using your quirk in public." Dabi tossed her a helmet, joking, "Safety first."

She knocked it aside with a snort. "I know, it's not like I've never left the city before."

"Oh yeah?" Dabi said as he revved the engine. "2 dollars says you only left the city...less than 5 times."

He couldn't see her expression since he was facing forward, but she didn't reply for a second. "I'm not taking that. Shut up."

Chuckling, Dabi started to move. "Might wanna hold on. Don't worry, I won't burn you."

He heard more grumbling. "I should have learnt to drive." But she put her arms around his waist. They felt chilly. _Were they always cold? _

Then they were off, entering the main road. The ride would be roughly half an hour. And Dabi was surprised by how much he enjoyed it. It was silent besides the engine sounds. The roads were mostly empty, and the cool night air made his coat flap in the wind.

He basked in the feeling. It had been a long time since he could cruise on an empty road in the countryside. He was hoping this mission was Shigaraki cooking up some bullshit for Geten, because he could tell there was something definitely up with this entire assignment. Whatever it was, Geten was taciturn about it.

Alternatively, the assignment was real and he could spend a night (or hopefully three) away from Deika City and the monotony burning some folks. Win-win.

Geten was quiet behind him, the only semblance of her presence being her two arms firmly latched onto his stomach, not too tightly – Thank god, but he noticed how whenever he accelerated, she gripped it a bit tighter.

_Just like me and Sensei… _

The memories pulled him into the past as he rode. Dabi remembered him teaching a young Touya how to ride a motorcycle when he was...14? It wasn't easy at first, but he had to learn to get around. They didn't have the convenience that Kurogiri or Ujiko provided. The villain street life was hard, but he chose to step into it. He had little regrets.

He remembered sitting behind where Geten was, holding on tightly to Dabi as they cruised through empty towns and abandoned industrial estates on their jobs. His mentor didn't mind then, so...he wouldn't mind now.

And speaking of empty towns, the road turned onto one, with the two of them riding through a small, two-lane town, one not meant to house people, but to serve as a pass-through.

His eyes flickered towards a store on his left whose lights were on. A convenience store. And…

_Wait, is that…?_

Dabi screeched to a halt and hopped off the bike.

"Why'd you stop? What – oh." Geten saw what he was looking at as she disembarked too.

It was a body. Beaten up bad, with twisted limbs and fist marks on his shredded clothing. It was propped up against the side of the building, an oddly peaceful final resting place. There was a smear of blood that stretched from the road all the way to the side of the convenience store.

Dabi squatted down and inspected it. _Couldn't have been more than three days, since no fluids have been expunged. Doesn't smell too bad, so decay hasn't been long, or it has yet to start. Organs are probably decomposing now, though. _

_Damn, can't believe I actually remembered Sensei's lesson. _

"Hold on, that's one of us. He's an advisor for Black Regiment." Geten said.

"Seriously?"

"His meta ability gives him enhanced speed. And…" She looked at the road. Dabi followed her gaze. It was more blood.

"He was running from there, not too long ago, since he still looks...fine." Dabi looked at the road they were heading.

"You don't think it's our assignment?" Geten wondered.

_Guess this assignment isn't Shigaraki's bullshit after all. _

"_Thump_."

_Movement. Rooftop. _ His head flicked upwards. Instinctively, he unleashed a stream of fire.

"_BANG!"_

Geten gave a surprised yelp, clutching her arm, but to her credit, her injured arm was instantly thrust out in retaliation, but nothing happened. "Wait, what?" She gasped.

_Shit, it's not...is it? Whatever, think later. _

Dabi unleashed a torrent of fire at the rooftops, where silhouettes shifted around. He counted five.

Dabi grabbed Geten by her uninjured hand and dragged her into the store. It would serve as cover.

"Are you alright?" Dabi turned to look at Geten, who was scrutinising her arm.

"Yeah, it's not a bullet. It's some dart." She held up a small capsule with a needle at the end. "But I can't…" Her voice trailed off as she tried again. Nothing.

"Fuck." Dabi growled. "Never mind. Stay hidden."

"What are you –"

Rushing out of the store, he swept his right arm upwards to summon a wave of flame that disintegrated the incoming volley of bullets that any idiot could predict. Igniting his left hand, he counterattacked with a fire blast, which got some of them. Two screams._ Amateurs. _

With a growl, he leapt out of the way, to dodge snaking tendrils shot towards where he was. _Using your quirks now, eh?_

He fired off another plume. The attackers ducked.

Dabi knew he couldn't scorch the buildings too much or it might be noticeable. The law didn't know about the PLF, but they knew about the League. Leave too many of his burn marks, and it'll screw him over.

_Guess I'll try this new move. _Having only practiced it thrice this morning – _Felt so long ago_, he prayed it would work.

Keeping his left hand summoning a continuous stream of fire to cover him, he drew his right fist back and concentrated. _Your fingers. Just the fingers. _

His left arm began to singe from the effort. It stung like a bitch. He gritted his teeth.

_Now or never. Fuck you Endeavour. You made me learn this. _

He thrust his open palm forward and withdrew his left simultaneously. From his fingertips, tendrils of fire as thin as rope shot forward them like burning lassos, weaving through the air in a snake-like fashion. But he didn't need accuracy, just the width.

With concentrated power, they managed to cover his whole field of view in terms of range. Just as the men left their cover, The tendrils seared into their flesh, and with screams filling the silence, they dropped down from the roof, slamming into the ground with sickening cracks. Three cracks.

_Shit, if they're not alive...Three stories, they might still make it. So there's three on the ground, and probably two on the roof, assuming no funny business with any quirks…_

Raising his voice, he said, "You guys have ten seconds to come down the ladder before I burn all your friends to ashes." Then his gaze lowered to see Geten standing in front of the convenience store, staring back at him. He gave her a 'wait a while' gesture.

Five seconds passed before the two of them climbed down the ladder, all while begging, "Please don't shoot!". Dabi grinned. They looked hilariously pathetic.

When they reached the ground, they knelt down with their hands in the air. Dabi approached them while giving the 'all ok' to Geten.

"If you two move," Dabi said, "I'll burn you alive."

The survivors quaked as Dabi bent down and picked up one of their guns. _Colt revolver, .45, definitely modified._

Having done it a thousand times, he disassembled the gun with fluid motions without much thought. The bullets tinkered as they fell to the ground to signify his successful disarmament. It had been one of Dabi's first lessons to him. Picking up one of the bullets gingerly, he inspected it and saw that it was identical to the bullet that had struck Geten. He dropped it to the ground and crushed it with his foot.

"All right, you." He pointed at one of the men. _Psych. _He opened his palm, and a blast of fire was accompanied by a guttural scream. The other covered his mouth to stifle a sob.

When he was done, he turned to the other and asked, "Did you kill that guy?" He pointed to the body of the Liberation Front advisor that was still lying there.

"No! I swear!" He shook his head vigorously, clasping his hands together to beg for mercy. _Seems truthful. _

"Who put you up to this?"

"I – I don't know!" He choked out.

"Oh yeah?" Dabi ignited his palm and stepped forward. He whimpered, "Please! I really don't know! We were just paid to do it!"

"I want a name." He placed his burning hand on the thug's leg. The thug's whimpers grew into raw wails.

"I – I don't know!"

"Try again." Increasing the firepower, the thug began to scream.

"M – Mesa!" He managed to spit out through the agony.

"Is that a street name or his actual name?"

"That's all he told us! I swear – T–That's all! Please!"

_Could be lying. Whatever, I won't get anymore out of them. These low-class trash don't seem like the type. _

Dabi sighed and rubbed his face. Looking around, he was glad the town was deserted. Even the convenience store lights seemed to be the thugs' doing. It would make cleanup way easier.

"You might wanna cover your ears for this one," He told Geten, standing up and motioning for the two of them to leave the alley. The alley looked funnily similar to all the other ones he burned. _Just like old times. _

Once they were on the pavement, he turned around and raised his hand. _Can't have people knowing we were here._

"NO! PLEA – AHHHHHH!"

_No point remembering them._

* * *

**Hi, sorry for the wait. Trying to do an upload every week or so, but with school it's gonna get harder. **

**Feedback's appreciated, thanks for all your support. Hope you liked this chapter. **


	15. Chapter 15: Soldiering On

Extinguishing his flames, Dabi saw only charred ashes on the ground. _Wind will get them. It always does. _

"What did they do to me? Why can't I use my meta ability?" Geten said, as Dabi rubbed his arms. He turned to look at her.

"I should have figured…" Dabi muttered. "Tokugawa Prefecture was near their territory. These guys must have been one of the last few to acquire them."

"What're you talking about?" She pressed on, frenetically rubbing her hands. She made a few gestures, trying to use it, but to no avail.

"You mean you don't know?" Dabi stared at her. "You guys kept track on the League so well, so why not – oh."

_Again with the hierarchy. _The pieces put themselves together; Dabi knew why she was in the dark.

"What? What 'oh'?" Geten screeched.

"Hey, calm down, girl. It's only temporary." Looking at the store, the door was still open and the lights were on. "Let's get something to eat. Might help."

That seemed to relax her for now, although she was still trying to move ice. The two of them entered the store and walked out carrying some snacks. In spite of the abandonment of this town, the snacks' preservatives lasted for a long time. Dabi made sure to turn off the lights as they left.

"Ok, explain," Geten said as they sat on the sidewalk.

"First off, the quirk-erasing bullets are temporary. It was an unfinished product made by the Shie Hassaikai, a yakuza group that got shut down a while back."

"And I'm guessing here," Dabi said as he munched on his chips, "But your leaders – those lovely asshats – they knew about the Hassaikai. They probably knew the group had a way to erase your precious meta abilities. Since their whole army was based on the principle of free meta ability usage, your Re-destro didn't wanna make everyone panic. So he and his group shut up. Makes sense?"

"So they kept it from me." Geten growled. "Again."

_What does she mean, again? _Dabi took another bite in silence.

"Well, like I said, it's temporary, and we can just call for an extraction –" He pulled out his phone when Geten unexpectedly grabbed his arm.

"No! We're not leaving."

"But...you're gonna be useless, aren't you?" Dabi raised an eyebrow. "I mean, you saw what happened to that guy. We might be up against something...problematic."

"We can handle it."

"Speak for yourself. You're quirkless for the next couple of hours. And do you even have any ice?"

Geten balled her fist. "I have some ice cubes in my pocket. They're cold enough to last a few hours. I'll take care of myself. And I'll help with this assignment."

Dabi sighed. _You and your ego will be the death of me. _"Fine. Whatever, if you're going to be so difficult about it." He put his phone back in his pocket, and Geten released her grip.

_Her hands aren't cold, _he realised.

He caught her with a blank stare at the pavement. "What are you thinking about?" He asked, suddenly feeling that her pride was not the only reason she was so insistent on continuing.

_No, she's not that afraid of the rest laughing at her quirklessness, or that she got shot..._but what was it?

She put on her hood. "Nothing." Her face was shrouded once more, and Dabi felt a tinge of disappointment. _Can't see what's she's thinking, it's unsettling, _he rationalised. That was probably the reason.

"Let's go." She said, standing up. She had stopped trying to use her quirk by now, giving up. He thought of saying something, but his mind came up blank. So he followed suit in silence, with the both of them getting on the motorcycle and speeding off.

_Are her hands shaking? _Dabi thought.

The silence of the ride was more somber than peaceful, knowing that what lay ahead was a real threat. Skeptic's talk of this dissenter managing to evade capture from the soldiers sent to stop them sent chills down Dabi's spine, but also a burning thrill. _This better be good. _

"So, what's the plan now?" Dabi shouted over the wind.

"You still have your fire, so you can take care of large groups. I think it might be a gang or cult of some sort that hates the Liberation ideology, considering the advisor back there looked like he was beaten to death. I can run distraction or disruption. We should split up and use our communicators." Geten replied.

_Good plan, _Dabi admitted. "Ok, and what if things go south?"

She had no reply for a good three seconds.. "Usually things never go south for me, but seeing the condition I'm in...maybe we should regroup in an area?"

"Fine. Don't die, okay?" Dabi thought out loud, then added hastily, "Gonna be a hassle to explain your death to everyone."

"Worry about yourself," She retorted. "I'll be fine."

_If you say so..._He thought, his grip tightening on the handlebars, unable to push out the thought that something bad was going to happen to her. She was quirkless, after all, during the most crucial time of the night.

"Who do you think those guys were back there?" Dabi asked.

No response came for a few seconds. "I don't know," She finally said, "But I don't think they were just random thugs. It seemed more like a hit squad. And who's Mesa?"

"No idea. Never heard it in my life." Dabi racked his brains, but he never bothered keeping the names of people in his past. Just the few, and the rest were smouldering corpses like those trash back there. "Do you think they were targeting you?"

He felt her bristle at the question, as if that triggered a thought. "Don't know," She said throatily.

_Lying? Whatever. She's not gonna tell me. But it might be linked to this whole assignment…_

"Anyway, they might have tried to shoot me too, but I probably burnt the bullets up."

"Fast reflexes," She uttered.

"Thanks." _Was that an actual compliment? She sounds bitter about it – that she didn't react fast in time. _The rest of the ride was spent in silence, until Dabi saw their destination.

"There." He flicked his head towards the fast approaching factory.

It was run-down and abandoned, complete with a "NO ENTRY" sign and worn-down wire fences which provided as much protection as fabric against a bullet. Towering metal and concrete chimneys gone dormant studded the compound; five-storey high buildings were placed next to them. Large metal containers occupied the expansive courtyard with dark lampposts situated in an orderly fashion, surrounding the containers like patrol guards.

_Strange, have I been here before? _No, that was impossible. He'd never visited Tokugawa Prefecture in his life. His mind was being a prick.

The two disembarked. "Guess we're playing hide and seek. This place is massive," Dabi said as he retrieved his earpiece from his pocket and wore it. Geten did the same.

"Let's set here as the meeting point." Geten pointed at their motorcycle. Dabi assented.

"Search the buildings first. It's the most logical place to hide," She said as she rubbed her left arm up and down. _Did she always do that? Or is she just nervous? _Just as he finished the thought, she abruptly stopped and tucked her hands in her parka pocket.

They walked through the row of buildings, until Geten tapped his shoulder to draw his attention. She pointed at one of the doors. In particular, a handprint on the dusty iron. _Damn, she spotted that? _He nodded.

The door was shackled by a chain, and said chain had been broken and strewn on the floor. Dabi pushed it open.

He wasn't surprised that he was greeted by darkness. With the faint strings of moonlight permeating through the dusty windows above, he could make out the silhouettes of stacks of crates, catwalks and broken lamps hanging on the ceiling like death row prisoners. No movement caught his eye when they stepped in.

Getting her attention, he made a 'split up' gesture. She nodded and the two separated down the narrow paths.

Dabi walked until he saw a sparkly glint of reflected light shining on one of the crates. He automatically read the label engraved on them, and his eyes widened.

BUSHIDO ENTERPRISES PTE LTD

_So that's why –_

The ground shook. He heard Geten yell over the thundering of crates shifting.

_Shit. _He turned and ran back as he saw crates beginning to collapse where Geten had headed. He spotted a blue parka and grabbed it, hauling her into the clear. With his other hand he shot a plume of azure flames into the darkness.

The fire illuminated a tall figure as it passed through like water around a rock. The figure had its hands braced to take the brunt of the damage. It looked like –

Dabi hid his surprise with a grin. "Well, I'll be damned." He retracted his hand. The fire lingered on some wooden planks strewn on the ground, casting a blue glow on the man's face.

"Beatdown." Geten breathed, veins of fear pulsing through the word.

Advisor to Violet Regiment, Shingu Takame, eyed the two of them with a stoic face, void of any expressions of pain. It seemed as if Dabi had sprayed water rather than a torrent of fire. The man had no words; he raised his fists and leapt towards them.


	16. Chapter 16: Lurking Demons

"_Apocrypha." The Grand Commander gripped her shoulders, the pain in his thumb all forgotten. His smile was benign, eyes blazing with pride. "Your meta ability...it has awakened. And to think it was your concern for me that triggered it. I truly am touched."_

"_Come, we must announce this to the Army. You are an exemplar for them to follow. Your special ability has made it so." _

She had only smiled. That was ten years ago, and she still remembered every word that he had said. It was her crowning achievement, to have done what Destro had proclaimed. _"The strength of a person lies in their meta ability, to awaken it is to strengthen oneself."_

Her strength was her Cryokinesis and her very reason for existence. And it was gone. _What do I do now?_

––––––––

"Get out, I'll deal with him." Dabi growled to her. She got to her feet and scrambled back, as Dabi stood between her and the muscular form of Shingu Takame, eyeing the two of them the way she did to her inferiors.

Then Dabi's voice was whispered over the earpiece, barely audible over the noise of crates crashing to the ground. "I'll throw down a wall, then run into the maze, where I was. We'll lose him for a while."

"Ok." She whispered back.

"_THOOM!"_ An incendiary wall sliced the room into two, cutting their view of Takame, but it worked in favour of them. The two turned and ran into the labyrinth of darkness and storage crates.

"What happened back there?" Dabi said. "Who attacked first?"

"He ambushed me, leapt down from the second floor, maybe," Geten gasped, struggling to keep up with Dabi's agility as he weaved through the narrow corridors. Sparing a split second to look behind her, she saw Takame barging through the flames, seemingly unharmed, about ten paces behind.

"That means you saw something. What was it?" Dabi demanded, grabbing her hand and dragging her to the left.

"I –" She spluttered. Dabi looked back at her, slowing down his pace. "It was someone else."

"Then that's our target. You find that person. I'll draw Takame away. Ready?"

She nodded vigorously.

"Go." With that, Dabi sent a careening bolt of fire upwards, like a flare. There was no way Takame would miss that. As the crashing sounds closed in on Dabi, she took a long route back towards where they were.

_That person. It was...a girl? How was she involved in all this?_

When she reached there – a small room in the back, it was empty. She looked around and saw the door closest to her, marked by an EXIT sign. She wrenched it open to see the large courtyard with orderly rows of containers, and the girl holding a suitcase and sprinting away.

She took off running after her. A foot chase. She hadn't done something like that in forever. And it was showing, judging by how the gap between them was widening.

_Damn it, do something! _Scanning the ground, she rushed to pick up a pebble. She threw it. The girl gave a yelp and stumbled to the ground as the rock collided with her head.

Closing the rest of the distance, Geten tackled her, placing her knees on the girl's legs, while grabbing her arms and holding them behind her back, as the girl struggled. "Let me – go!"

"Shut up," Geten said. "So you're our target? Who are you?"

"None of your business, Apocrypha." She spat.

Geten growled. "Tell me, or I'll break your arms."

"Why aren't you killing me already? Am I that worthless of a target you won't even use your quirk?"

"We're bringing you in," Geten lied.

"The rest of you – you bastards tried to kill me. Why would you be any different?" The girl coughed on the scattered dust from the ground.

Geten pushed her knee deeper into the girl's back, eliciting a hiss of pain. "You answer my questions."

But the girl continued, "You didn't even use your quirk to capture me. Don't tell me…" She chuckled, "you're at your limit? Can't use your quirk, huh?"

"Shut up. I don't need my ice to break your neck, so you'd do well to answer me." Geten's nails dug deeper into the girl's skin. "Who. Are. You?"

She huffed. "You wanna know who I am?" The hit came faster than she had anticipated. Geten felt a dizzying pain, followed by a sharp one in her mouth, as the girl threw her head back to hit Geten in the chin, making her bite her tongue. She hissed, but her grip was off with the sudden attack.

Then she felt a blunt force in her stomach and she was thrown off the girl. _She kicked me. _Through the haze of pain, she heard the girl yell something as she got to her feet and kept running into the maze of metal cargo.

_Father? _The word she shouted murkily swam to the forefront of her mind.

There was a roar as Shingu Takame burst through the concrete walls of the building and barrelled straight towards Geten. Behind him, she made out the dark jacket that belonged to Dabi. He was shouting something...was he looking at her?

"Get up! He's coming for you!" Dabi's voice shouted through her earpiece.

_Get up, _she repeated, but her head spun. Her gut screamed in protest. The kick hurt. _I...can't. _

Then she heard a bone-snapping crack. Her eyes widened as she saw Dabi's limp body sent flying and slamming against the wall, a well-timed surprise attack. Shingu retracted his fist and turned back to face her, and started walking.

_No._

She struggled, pushing her arm up for leverage. She stumbled to her feet, dragging them back as Takame ambled towards her, his impassive expression returning. At the corner of her eye, she saw his daughter run towards him.

"Apocrypha!" He bellowed. "I'd appreciate if you would stop moving. You're not going anywhere while your co-leader is behind me. Unless you truly are as heartless as the stories I've heard."

She stopped. _I need to buy time._ The motion elicited a smile from him, but it was mixed with anger as he tended to her daughter's injury with a caring rub on her head. Geten was startled at their similarity in appearance. Both wore the same hardened expression, with a sharp chin and athletic build, even despite Shingu's age.

"You hurt my daughter? You'll pay for that," He said.

"You'll pay for your treachery to the Front."

"So says the murderer. Don't act like you're loyal to the army. Please, spare me the pretense." Shingu's eyes narrowed at her. She didn't respond.

"Usually," He continued, "I would have killed you and him by now. But it's not everyday you're allowed a conversation with a lieutenant of the Liberation Front. And it's certainly a rare moment for you to not be able to use your quirk. I don't know what the reasons for that are, so once you give me what I want, I'll finish you and him off."

"Then you wouldn't mind giving me information I want?" Geten said.

Takame looked back at his daughter. "They're not watching us, are they?" He said, quieter, but Geten heard it. She shook her head, tapping her briefcase.

_So she's responsible for both the chatter and the signal disruption? That's why Skeptic couldn't find them properly. _

Turning back, he shrugged. "I have no qualms giving information to a dead person. First question, who knows about tonight?"

Before she could respond, he added, "Oh, and don't try to lie. My daughter's quirk can discern the truth from any statement."

_Liar...right? It was a strange combination of meta abilities. What was her mother's? _

She played along for now. "Only the lieutenants and Shigaraki. My question now."

"No." Takame cut through. "Next, where is –"

"What drove you to betray the Front?" Geten raised her voice. She didn't need to know this. She just needed time. Either for her to get to Dabi, or for her meta ability to reactivate.

"Where is Skeptic's data stored?" His voice was as cold as ice. _Damn, he's not one to waste time. I need to get him to talk more..._She placed a hand in her pocket. The ice still had not melted. _A few hours...it's barely been one. How do I get out of this? _

"You must have a reason." Geten stared at the man, refusing to waver her gaze. "You wouldn't put you and your daughter through this hell. Living in factories, running from place to place to evade us...It's personal."

"Where is Skeptic's data stored?" The question came again in apparent disregard of her statement, but she knew she struck a nerve.

"Is it about your wife?" Just as she uttered the word, she saw a blur of grey and beige. The punch to her face made her stagger back and spit out blood.

_Okay, I definitely struck a nerve. _The bruising pain stung her cheek, but she found herself grinning, as crazy as it was. Takame drew back his fist, a vein on his forehead pulsing.

"Is she dead?" She taunted at the incensed Takames. "The Liberation Army killed her?"

"Shut up!" The girl shouted. Shingu held her back. "Mihara...calm down. I'll handle this."

"Mihara?" Geten's memory brought forth two names on an old list, many years back. "Oh…" She smirked. "So you were lying about her quirk. Mihara doesn't even have one, does she? Neither did your wife, Osaki." She wiped the blood on her sleeve and stood back up.

"Come on, Dabi. Get up,"She whispered into her earpiece, to no avail. _Please. I can't...I can't do this alone. _

She saw Shingu take a few calming breaths, the tension creeping upwards with the silence. "You're not going to give me what I want, I see," The Takame head observed, his voice dripping acid. "I'll give you one last chance to tell me everything I need to know."

She wore her smirk facing him. "You have some revenge plan against the MLA for killing her," Geten rattled on, hoping she was correct in her guesses. "You, alone? You think your quirk will do anything against the entire Deika City, or Shigaraki? Your plan was doomed the day you conceived it. I assume, the day your wife died."

The punch came as predicted. Geten swerved her head to the side. She let out a giggle. "What, did we kill her? Not me, surely? I would remember a person like you. It must mean your wife was quirkless. It's no wonder we killed trash like her."

She jumped out of the way to dodge another smash. "So you joined the MLA to take out Re-destro." She forced herself to laugh, her voice rising in tempo, as she laid out Takame's plan without him even telling her. "But, let me guess, the League of Villains ruined your plans, didn't it? And now you and your daughter can't do anything but cry using the news. All because we killed your wife."

The vein in Takame's temple was nearly popping – Geten could see it from a few feet away. His breathing was heavy, his shoulders heaving with anger on the verge of erupting. He opened his mouth, perhaps to say something vitriolic.

"You...you monster." Geten's smile slid off her face at the emotion in his tone. It sounded as if his heart tore with every word he spoke.

"We...we did _nothing_ to you." Takame said, looking at her with a dying rage, his impassive expression fading, leaving one that spoke of uncountable volumes of pain. "But you...your self-righteous, quirk-abusing, hellspawn of an army seeked out the quirkless. You took Osaki – away." His voice shook, cracking as he talked about her.

"I…" Geten's voice trailed off. Perhaps she was too good at buying time. Moving her hands, they felt empty, lacking the imbued power of her Cryokinesis, that up till an hour ago, had never felt that way. _Was it what Osaki felt? But...no, I have a meta ability. I'm not –_

A second hit slammed her into the ground, in that split second of hesitance. Her body seized up on its own, even as she screamed at it to move out of the way of the oncoming assault.

The third punch sunk into her abdomen like a bullet, curling her up into a fetal position out of instinct. She choked out a cry, tears staining the gravel centimetres away from her face. Or was it blood?

"You're no human." Through the dust and the spots in her eyes, the ringing in her head and the pain wracking her body like a thousand hammers, she heard Takame's voice clearly. She saw him standing over her, fists clenched. He drew his right arm back.

"You don't deserve a life." The fifth punch cracked a bone. She heard it. _Arm? Rib? _Every inch of her body was numb with agony.

"Everything...everything I've heard about you is true." Takame snarled, the Reaper's shadow looming over her. "You're a demon, a demon with a frozen heart."

A whimper escaped her mouth. That was all she could do – whimper, cry, choke on her tears, and nothing more. Her vision faded in and out of darkness – a broken flashlight. She coughed up more blood, shivering like a newborn infant, as Takame stopped the pummels for a second.

She braced herself for the last barrage.

But the second lasted another second. And then…another. She kept her eyes closed. Maybe she was already dead? She didn't dare open her eyes.

"Stay still. Don't move." A voice – a familiar one, murmured. "They're on the way."

A warmth was the last thing she felt before unconsciousness overtook her.

–––––


	17. Chapter 17: A Frozen Heart

For fifteen minutes, Dabi watched the broken, unconscious form of Geten breathe, every inhalation causing a shudder to ripple through her body. Every time she made a hacking cough, blood spurted from her mouth, making his fists clench tighter and his teeth grind against one another with building rage. Ten minutes in, he had reduced Takame's corpse to ashes to vent the inferno inside him.

That was all he could do. He couldn't move her because of all the broken bones and fractures. The one thing he could was to shift her head an inch, to ensure she didn't choke on her blood.

All he could do was wait. The throbbing pain in his arms from blocking that hit was nothing compared to the pain in his chest at seeing her on the verge of death, enduring a merciless pummel that she didn't deserve.

He felt like every breath he took injected him with even more fury that he wanted to scream, to let the world know he wanted to burn it all.

_Stupid girl. Why can't you see that you never belonged to the MLA? Why are you getting yourself killed for them? _

Geten shuddered as she coughed out more blood that stained the rusty containers' surface. Dabi tore his eyes away. _You could have stopped Takame before he went after her. You're weak._

_Wasn't my fault I got sent on this damn assignment, _he argued on instinct.

Yet his conviction disappeared upon seeing Geten's state. He ignited his arm, feeling the fiery torture wrack his already fractured limb. It didn't expunge the guilt, but he liked to think that it could, somehow.

_Did Shigaraki know, sending two people whose quirks don't work well against him? _

He was confronting Shigaraki when they got back, that was for sure. But for now, his concern was her.

_Is her breathing slowing? Shit. _

He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling helpless, so utterly helpless. _C'mon, girl, don't die on me. Please. _

When he opened them, he saw two figures rushing towards them. He recognised one of them as the soldier who had welcomed them at the airport.

"Help her first, I'm good." He said as he extinguished his punishment. The two of them nodded. One of them stepped forward to lay a hand on Geten.

Dabi slapped it away with a glare. "Are you an idiot? She's in no state to be carried."

The soldier gave a patient smile. "I'm not moving her. My special ability can teleport people to a nearby location I'm familiar with by being in physical contact. We're bringing the both of you back to the airport where Compress will take you back to Deika."

"Ah," Dabi said, leaning back, "My bad."

In the next few seconds, Dabi felt a light tugging sensation, definitely smoother than the gunky horridness that was the Doctor's method. The next moment, he found himself back at the airport on solid ground, with the other three in the same position.

"Keep her spine in line," Dabi ordered, and the two obeyed, gingerly holding Geten in place. "How long till Compress gets here?"

"ETA ten minutes," The teleporter announced. Dabi swallowed – _If he doesn't get here on time..._

Dabi was sweating despite the quiet and cool night; the serenity of this scene was destroyed by the haggard breaths Geten was drawing. He kept looking at the sky, trying to spot a black dot in the darkness. When a seeming eternity had passed feeling more anxious by the minute, he saw it, illuminated by red lights.

He heard the whirring sounds of the chopper as it closed in and landed. Dabi spotted the familiar orange-brown coat and the black hat of Atsuhiro Sako, and a painful smile of relief tugged at his lip.

One thing Dabi liked about Compress was that despite his showman persona, he didn't mince words, or speak when there was no need to. Sako raced out of the aircraft, compressed Geten and pocketed her.

"You need me to do you, too?" Sako asked him.

Dabi shook his head. "Let's go. Thanks, you two." He acknowledged the soldiers, who bowed in return and left. The two Lieutenants climbed into the helicopter and the pilot lifted off.

"No headsets? I'm not going deaf here," Dabi shouted over the whirring.

"Chill, the pilot has a noise-cancelling quirk. He'll activate it soon." As Compress said this, the ruckus disappeared, as if they were back on the jet. Another pang of hurt poked at Dabi, thinking about his nonchalance at the start of the mission.

"You look like hell." Compress noted Dabi's arms and the dust and grime on his coat.

"Yeah. Assignment was harder than we thought."

"I presumed much. Who was it?"

"One of the advisors in my regiment, and his daughter."

Dabi heard the surprise in Sako's tone. "Oh, Skeptic's gonna go mental. Not that he already isn't."

That got a chuckle out of Dabi, but it died as he thought about the damage Takame had done.

"But you guys finished the mission, right?" Compress asked.

Looking out the window at the night sky, he muttered, "Yeah."

"You didn't throw her under the bus, did you?"

Dabi's head flicked back to face Compress. "What the hell, no! Why would I?"

The performer raised his arms to placate his anger. "Sorry, last time you talked about her, you were ready to kill her or whatever's in your head. You mean to say that you guys are on good terms now?"

Dabi sighed. "I just don't hate her. And I have no reason to let her die. Shigaraki wouldn't be happy." He added as an afterthought.

Compress gave a tiny sigh. "Well, I'm sure you have a thrilling story of how you two managed to get to this state."

"We definitely do," Dabi said dryly.

"Tell us all about it tomorrow. Go get some sleep tonight. The doctor has a cell activation quirk, he'll fix you up first, then her."

"No, get her first. I'll wait."

"Fine," Compress relented after seeing the adamant expression on Dabi's face. "You're really...concerned for her. It's weird."

Dabi replied with a yawn.

––––––

The doctor flipped through his clipboard. "Multiple fractures on her arms, five broken ribs, dislocated jaw and a skull fracture."

"But you fixed all of it...right?" There was an undertone of a _"You better have."_ that the doctor understood, given the reassuring smile he wore at Dabi's question. He was getting sick of people trying to calm him down with smiles, like that would help.

"I used my ability as best as I could, and it fixed most of it, but I only sped up the recovery of the cell reparations. We'll be providing iron and calcium supplements to help her along, but she'll be bedridden for the next few days."

"Any permanent damage?"

"As long as she gets enough rest and doesn't exert herself, she'll be fine and back to normal in a few weeks."

Dabi exhaled. "Alright. Thanks doc."

Dr Shimano nodded and left the room. Dabi looked at Geten, whose chest rose and fell at a stable pace as she slept, no longer shaking, a significant improvement from just an hour ago.

"Sorry Geten," He said. "I fucked up."

As the words left his mouth, he took a second to realise what he had just said. He blinked. _When did I start caring so much? _

The air-conditioned room and the leather chair he was seated on let the remaining surges of adrenaline fade out, to be replaced by an ice-cold fist of realisation – The events that had transpired in the last couple of hours punched him in the face.

He had not left her side once the entire time.

_You're really...concerned for her._

He got out of his seat, staggering upon registering Mr Compress' words from earlier with clarity, similar to receiving a fiery touch on his skin. _What the hell? _

He glanced back at Geten sleeping, then he left the room with extended paces. _I should get back to my room. Yeah, that's a good idea. _He pushed all thoughts of the girl out of his mind, focusing on the inevitable debrief from him the next council meeting, since she couldn't –

He swore under his breath. _Stop thinking about her. _These thoughts, feelings, whatever they were. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was unnatural. Foreign. Probably dangerous.

––––––––

The next morning's meeting convened, in the absence of Lieutenant Apocrypha, with Dabi's debrief of the mission.

"Alright, Dabi, care to explain what happened?" Shigaraki drummed his fingers on the table.

Dabi stood up, wearing his trademark lazy expression, though he was actually fatigued. "So our target turned out to be a Mihara Takame, daughter of Shingu Takame, who was an advisor to Violet Regiment."

He noted the widened eyes of the old MLA executives. Hanabata's gaze flickered between the desk and him. And was that a bead of sweat rolling down Skeptic's forehead? It might have been his imagination.

"What?" Re-destro gaped, then turned to Shigaraki. "Grand Commander, I apologise deeply for this treachery. I had no idea —"

Shigaraki waved his hand. "Never mind about that first. Continue."

"We got into a fight, which turned out bad for Apocrypha, who took most of the damage, but I managed to finish the assignment."

"Yeah, that's the part I wanna know." Shigaraki leaned forward, clasping his hands together. "Why did you guys end up taking the beating you did?"

"Takame's quirk was a shitty matchup against mine and hers. He just wouldn't feel any pain. Impossible to incapacitate him."

"And Apocrypha's ice did nothing?"

"No, it didn't hinder him much."

"Then how did you kill both of them?"

"I took out the woman first." Dabi mimed twisting a neck. "For her old man, I concentrated my flames onto his head. Carbonized it. He probably died from brain failure or something."

"Ah, copying Endeavour now, eh?" A small grin made Dabi bristle, though he concealed it.

He shrugged. "What can I say? He's got decent moves to copy, and I have the firepower to match his. Speaking of which, you might want to send a team to dispose of the body. I didn't burn up the girl, only Takame."

Shigaraki frowned. "Why don't you do it?"

"Excuse me?" The coldness in the room spiked as the two stared at each other with venom.

"I don't know why you could cremate the larger-sized adult male but not the small girl. Go fix your mess."

"You're really going to send me all the way back just to burn one more corpse?"

"Yep." Shigaraki's eyes were still fixated on him, as though daring him to act out. _What do you want? _Something about the way his leader questioned him was off. Hell, he was never so interested in these small problems that cropped up. Dabi had talked to Twice before the meeting. According to him, a small riot broke out in the town centre over Shigaraki's leadership, and the latter didn't seem to care.

_Did you send the hit squad on us? _Dabi's eyes swept the room. Hanabata and Skeptic's faces were whiter than normal, but that was because Takame was on their list that Apocrypha freaked out so much about, right?

Dabi was about to argue further, but decided against it. He needed answers, and he doubted anyone in the room would offer anything worthwhile. _Maybe going back would be helpful._

He spun around and walked towards the door. "Fine. I'll get to it now. Prep the jet, Skeptic."

Without waiting for an answer, or for Shigaraki to stop him, he left the room, slamming the door behind him with a growl. He had to admit, though, that the solitude and this menial task given to him allowed him time to think about everything that had happened last night, and he kept coming back to the one name.

_Mesa. _

That was all he got from the thug. A name that he couldn't even be sure was real. Dabi was somewhat confident it was a legitimate answer: the thug was terrified of dying, especially after Dabi used his partner as a demonstration.

When one was about to die, truths became more apparent. They stopped lying and told the truth, whether one was on their deathbed or backed up against an alley.

_Sensei had done the same thing._

Dabi frowned, and quickened his pace. Which reminded him..._that factory, it looks similar to the one that night. Guess I'll look around there too. _

He emerged from the underground tunnel to the airport, a convenient distance from the mansion. And his face blanched. _Why the fuck is she here? _

Geten was talking with the pilot, her posture bent, and Dabi didn't need a doctor to tell him she was still injured.

He marched up to her and waved off the pilot. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going back." She said, her face tight with pain. Or defiance. One worried him, the other annoyed.

"No, you're not. You're still fucked up, you're going back to the hospital." He pointed away from the helicopter beside both of them, which reminded him of a parent sending a kid to their room.

And just like the kid, she was acting like a brat. "I need to go back. Please. How did you even know I was here?"

"I didn't."

"So you're going back to Tokugawa?"

Dabi bit back a retort. "No," he tried.

Her eyes narrowed. "If you're going, I'm going."

Dabi envied Sako for the issues he could solve with his quirk with one tap. He stretched his sigh out. "Alright. Fine. One condition."

"What?"

"Go take a shower and change out of this. You look and smell like shit."

Geten seemed to be in no mood to shoot a returning insult. She nodded.

—

The two took a helicopter ride, which Dabi figured was Skeptic's way of flipping him off — he was in the mood for another private jet ride, at least up till Geten showed up.

Along the way, Dabi explained what had happened while she was unconscious or hospitalised. She nodded, rather numbly, to everything. He felt like pressing her on why wanted to come along, but she looked to be in such a somber mood Dabi kept quiet once he was done.

"Thank you," Geten said, which caught Dabi off-guard.

He stared at her. "Huh?"

But she lapsed back into silence.

_Takame's words really affected her, huh? _He got the gist of it: Takame was pissed off. Dabi was too focused on finishing the job, the concussion dulled his senses, even as he crept up to the both of them. He didn't hear everything Takame said, but enough of it.

He still had no idea what she was doing here. Guess he would find out.

They touched down a while later, took another motorbike ride – also in silence, to the factory. When they got off, there was a rush in her step, as though in anxiety, to reach the site of their Pyrrhic victory. Although, Dabi managed to keep pace with her.

Mihara's body was still there, and the imprint of Shingu was visible on the stone ground. Geten took out some ice from her pocket and used them to shut her wide eyes, then adjust her broken neck. She looked like she was sleeping.

Next, she fashioned her ice into a platform which carried the young woman. Dabi quietly watched all this unfold, not wanting to interrupt whatever she was doing.

Then Geten walked towards the nearby forest. Taking out more ice, she formed a wide, curved object, which she used to shovel dirt.

_Oh, so that's what she's doing. _

As if in a trance, he picked up some sticks off the ground, lit the tip of them and passed three to Geten, who had laid Mihara's body in the grave and filled it with dirt.

She looked at the makeshift joss sticks, then at him, and gave a quivering smile. She knelt down to place them on top of the grave.

As she tried to stand up, she stumbled a bit with a wince of pain. Dabi grabbed her shoulders to steady her. "Hey. Don't stress yourself."

_Her footing is off_, he noted that, as well as her constant flinching. Her ribs were probably still hurting.

He sighed and muttered, "You – You can lean on me. Just don't tell anyone I said that."

"I'm fine," She said with less believability than a hero's promise. But she did, after a pause, rest her head on his shoulder, as the two stared at the blue flame that slowly died, its bright azure radiance leaving small spots in their eyes.

"Why's it seem like you trust me all of a sudden?" Dabi had to ask.

After a moment of silence, Geten mumbled, "I think...I think I just do. You're not the worst."

_That's a first. _

"So why'd you bury her?"

"Because…" She looked at her hands. "They didn't deserve it. It's weird, isn't it? I got beat up so much by them, but I'm still respecting her."

"No, it's not weird. It means…" Dabi considered his next few words. "It means your heart isn't cold."


	18. Chapter 18: Reclamation

"You're not done here? I thought your job was to dispose of her." Geten asked as she followed Dabi back to the building where they'd fought.

"Just checking out some things. You can leave if you want," Dabi said as he turned and walked towards the warehouse.

He expected her to whizz away on her ice, but he heard footsteps behind. He turned back to see her following with her head down.

"What…Ugh. Fine." He pocketed his hands.

"It's not like I can leave, I don't have any more ice, and I can't walk all the way back or ride the bike," Geten defended.

The two walked into the warehouse they fought Takame in, which was easy to identify with its shattered walls and charred floor.

Dabi mindlessly ran his hand over the engraved text of "Bushido Enterprises". He'd seen this place before. Well, not this particular factory, but it seemed this company duplicated their structures down to the blueprint across the country, perhaps with the help of one or more quirks.

He forgot what they were in the business of. Was it weaponry? Construction materials? Or perhaps that innocent building, a twin to this one, was the unfortunate venue chosen for gangs to meet.

He winded through the narrow passageways, with Geten trailing him. How had he known where he was going, as he evaded Takame? The memory had returned to him last night and lingered till now. He retraced his steps, and found himself in a massive clearing, in the centre of the building.

Dabi exhaled as flashes of that night struck his mind like lightning. _Fire. Screams. A roar above it all._ Yet as quickly as they came, they dissipated, leaving only frustration.

"What are you looking at?" Geten said.

"Not sure," Dabi uttered. He pressed his hands into his skull, trying to constrict his head into squeezing those lost thoughts out. _A chair in the centre, blinded by a spotlight, _andthe last spark of memory fizzled out. His head snapped up to the catwalk above, but there was no spotlight.

"Trying to remember something?"

He looked at her with his mouth hanging, before he regained his composure. "Maybe," he admitted. "How would you know?"

"I've...done something similar." She kicked a pebble across the room with her hands in her pocket. "I looked like that when I was frustrated."

"Your name?" He hadn't forgotten.

She nodded after a pause. "I guess you're trying to remember your old name too?"

Noting the blank look on his face, she scoffed. "Come on, don't think I didn't know Dabi wasn't your birth name when we met."

He waved it off. "I know my name. I've abandoned it. And don't ask me what it is." He added with a spark of assertiveness.

"Wasn't planning to, you have your own secrets, I have mine…" She murmured, "Let's leave it at that."

Dabi nodded, feeling a twitch of guilt. He sat against one of the crates and looked up at her.

"What about yesterday? Care to tell me now it's all over?" His eyes met hers in spite of her wearing her hood.

She sighed and sat down opposite him. For a few moments, it was only the two of them suspended in silence. Rays of sunlight permeated through the windows, casting them in a warm glow. Dabi was never one for daytime, with its people and noise, but it was strangely calming.

"Shigaraki talked to me before the meeting. You wouldn't know, you were gorging on ramen." She sounded mildly amused.

"I was hungry after training. Sue me."

"He didn't say much, but I think he was implying that he was testing me."

"He's never went to school, don't worry, he'd be a shit teacher."

"I meant he was testing my loyalty."

"I mean, if slicing up your own people ain't loyal, I don't know what is," Dabi quipped.

She looked up with widened eyes, like a gambler who just realised they had lost. "You know?"

"Some rumours and suspicions. So it's true."

"I'm not proud of it...now," She spoke, and sounded truthful.

"Keep going." Dabi waved dismissively.

"I was paranoid that the whole assignment was set up by Shigaraki, and that you were here to spy for Shigaraki."

Dabi barked out a laugh. "Not in a million years."

"Well, it sure made me suspicious. I kept thinking you had orders to kill me if I made the wrong move. My loyalty was in question, wasn't it?"

His expression sombered. _Well, that explains a lot._ "I kept wondering why you were being so stubborn about continuing. If the others or Shigaraki found out you failed the assignment, it wouldn't look good for you either."

She nodded rigidly, like a robot toy with rusty joints. Dabi exhaled. _So she was going into Tokugawa with that much baggage...while I was whistling and kicking back against leather chairs. _

Yet he wasn't punished, while she took all of Takame's hits and ended up in this state. He clenched his fists, feeling a hydra of emotions emerge – anger, shame, guilt, twisting and churning, all inside him.

"I was in a place like this before, sometime in my past," He said, which drew her eyes to meet his, with evident intrigue towards the spontaneous sharing. "It's why I wanted to come here. To look around, see if I remember anything."

The words burst from his mouth. His brain sent alarm signals, asking what the hell he was doing. _Sharing something, _he responded. Maybe sharing something about himself would make her hate him less. Because he sure as hell would hate her if he had to take a beating as bad as the one she took, just to buy time to save her.

"You want to reclaim your past? Why?"

He was still staring at her, and it was that question, _Why, _and her white hair, that clicked in his head.

He remembered someone else he held close with long white hair like hers. His heart clenched. _Is that why I'm doing this? _

"Probably time I did so." He got to his feet and offered a hand. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Don't you want more time?" She took it, wincing a little.

"Yeah, but you need to rest. I think I'm done here anyway."

The two exited the warehouse towards the bike, and as Dabi surveyed the factory for the last time, something bit at him. He forgot something, but what was it?

––––––

"I'll...make sure you don't get killed. By Shigaraki, or, whoever," Dabi said, hoping he was loud enough to be heard with the wind whooshing past on the motorcycle. Because he did not want to repeat that.

He felt her arms tighten slightly against his torso. "Thanks," She murmured.

Silence folded onto them once again.

––––––

"I'm back." Dabi shut the door behind to see Shigaraki on a chair, with multiple metallic surgical devices operating on his open arm, and that was a light way of describing it.

Such was Shigaraki's desire, anyway, as he had shared a while back with just the League. It was one hell of an ambition, one Dabi could get behind, but definitely not to the extent of sitting in that rusty chair of the Doc.

Picking between looking at his leader in the eye and beholding the grisly tendons and bones that looked more at home at a slaughterhouse, it was a difficult choice indeed, but Dabi had to settle for eye contact.

"That took a while," Shigaraki stated, but didn't say anything further. Was he expecting Dabi to explain himself, or was that his indifference?

"I've got some questions about the mission. But first, what the hell are you doing?"

"Hmm?" Shigaraki inspected a bit of flesh that landed on his chest, apparently unconcerned with the discontinued surgery from the doctor that had left the room a while ago. "Oh, just learning some biology. Did you know if you tear open someone's left arm like this, it hurts like shit?"

"Could have fooled me." Dabi noted Shigaraki's bored countenance.

"Yeah, well, can we get to your questions about the missions? I'm getting tired entertaining guests."

"Why'd you pick me and Apocrypha?"

"Thought it would be good for both of you. Get some fresh air away from the city, y'know, let you two hook up if you wanted to…"

Dabi's brow twitched. "And your other reason?"

"Seeing if she's good enough to serve as a lieutenant. I never got to hear your take, by the way, seeing as you left the meeting midway to finish your chores."

"She did fine." _More than fine. _"No reason to demote her or anything."

"Hm." Shigaraki sounded unimpressed. "If you say so. She's your co-leader in the regiment."

_And you said you wouldn't give a shit about what went on within the regiment, as long as it worked..._There was probably some truth to that, the only exception being Shigaraki's suspicion of Geten's loyalties given her past. If he held true to his word now, Shigaraki would lay off her back for the time being now that that Takame fiasco was over.

"Yeah, she's a bit annoying, but otherwise she's decent."

"Mmhmm…" Shigaraki went back to tracing a finger on his exposed bone. "Well, any more questions?"

"Mesa." Dabi trained his eyes onto him to catch any signs of recognition. _Catch them off-guard with information they don't expect you to have, and you'll see if they're hiding something. _

"S'cuse me?" Shigaraki looked more confused than annoyed. _Nothing. Guess it wasn't him. That leaves a couple more people. _

"I sneezed, sorry. I got nothing else," Dabi deadpanned.

"Well, bless you, and GTFO," Shigaraki snarked.

"Thanks. Good luck on your surgery." Dabi turned to leave with a lazy wave.

"Oh yeah, good job on the assignment, by the way," Shigaraki said, as Dabi ambled to the door. "Feel free to resume your own business, with Hawks or whoever. Just keep him in check. If he pries too much, I'll have to pluck him out."

"So you don't trust him either?"

"I'd be disappointed if you ever did."

Dabi gave a short laugh as he held the doorhandle. At least they were on the same page about something. "Don't worry. I'll drag him to this doorstep if need be."

If there was a reply from Shigaraki, it was lost to the echo in the chamber.


	19. Chapter 19: Old Chains

The girl bowed and left the room in a hurry, nearly tripping over her feet as she did so. Geten watched her go, her lips pursed. Her behaviour reminded her of that messenger at her lodgings, but while she had smirked at the boy's cowardice just a few days ago, she felt uneasiness coil around her stomach.

_Do they all look at me like that? How long has it been since I've been in the city? _

She rarely ever _walked _down a street, not having any need to with her cryokinesis. Transporting herself with her ice was much preferable to reducing herself by commuting alongside the other soldiers in the MLA. The few times she interacted with them...they always had the same look on their faces.

She put those thoughts aside and returned to an even more unpleasant subject: the book in her hand that she had requested the girl bring to her. It was familiar to her like a mother to her infant. The same indented red cover with its engravement of the symbol of the MLA. The same title emblazoned with gold.

_Meta Liberation War. _

She knew the book back to front. If prompted by anyone, she could recite the pledge, the paragraphs or the sign off by Destro in a heartbeat. She had spent years memorising every key sentence, every declaration made by the founder of the Army she belonged to, and so on.

_So why am I holding it in my hand?_

Well, for one, she needed something to keep her distracted while she was stuck in the hospital ward, thanks to a certain fire-user and a dumb pact made just an hour or so ago.

"_Ok, five day hospitalisation, doc's orders." Dabi turned to leave the room. _

"_No, I'm leaving tomorrow," Geten shot back, crossing her arms. _

"_Uh huh, because you'd be fully recovered, right?" _

_She paused, searching for a retort. "You can't make me stay here."_

_Even to her, it sounded childish, and Dabi's choked laughter told her he was thinking the same way. "Tell you what, what's your favourite food?"_

_The question caught her off-guard. She blinked twice, wondering if that question came from him. "I don't have one."_

"_Bullshit. Everyone has one."_

"_Unlike you, I'm not that much of an adolescent to show preferences for food. I eat whatever's there." _

"_It's something cold, isn't it? Soba?" _

"_How – wha –" She spluttered. "No, no it's not."_

"_You chill here until Friday, and I'll get you soba."_

"_Even if I did like it, I could just get it myself." She was hoping her expression wasn't betraying how much she liked the noodles. _

"_Not in Deika City, obviously. You think this shithole has any good food?" _

"_We can't just leave –" Her exasperation was overpowered by his when he cut her off with, "Do you want the soba or not?"_

_A spasm of pain coursed through her ribs, causing her to wince. "Fine," She muttered, and sat down on the bed. _

"_See you Friday then. My god, you're stubborn." He left and shut the door. _

The memory, fresh in her mind, was oddly warming to think about, while the metal-engraved title of the book felt cold to the touch, pulling her back to the present.

The second reason was too much repetition. She compared it to her mastery over her meta ability that made it a part of her, that she barely gave a thought whenever she levitated ice anymore. Likewise, she could recant any part of the book with no hesitance. _But even though I speak the words out loud, how much thought have I given their meaning?_

She flipped open the book. Destro's words filled Geten's head like a lullaby a parent might sing to their child, not that the young woman knew what that was like.

"I am not in a prison. I am in solitude, and in this solitude have I found solace…" She read out loud to herself in the ward. It was habitual to do so, but as she kept reading, her voice trailed off as she studied it, and a growing void inside her gnawed at her heart.

_I dream of a society where the use of our meta abilities is uncontrolled, as the great power that granted the human race this blessing intended. It was, and is, and will always be, a gift. Yet it is also a responsibility to bear. We must show the world the truth the governments try to conceal. They pass human laws that goes against the natural law. I, and my army, tried to show them this truth, but it is with great regret and sorrow that I announce an obstacle in our path towards destiny. My incarceration. _

…

_Strength is survival. Strength is our meta abilities, and honing them to perfection, achieving what we called "apotheosis" in the ancient past. To become god-like. _

"And yet, you died, Destro," Geten murmured. "And still we...we honour and revere you…" The void grew larger.

_The journey unto death is one I will undertake after I finish writing this, but know that death is not the end for us. While I concede death is a frightening concept, I encourage you to believe that it is an inspiration for others. To die in battle is honourable. I only wish I had done so, but what has happened is set in stone. My death is a protest to the laws that chain us, but it is also your empowerment, to do what I could not. _

"Death," Geten whispered, the word tasting like poison on her tongue. She remembered both times she was one thread away from it: the barrel of Trumpet's gun pointed at her, and the fists of Takame. In the first, she was not in combat. It would have been an assassination, would it not? And in the second…

Her chest hurt at the thought. She felt no honour, only emptiness and fear, knowing what the Liberation Army had done to her attacker's family, and knowing her death was imminent.

_Is it possible that Destro had feared death as well? _

The reminder about Takame's wife brought her to flip the pages to the section on the powerless, or, as Destro put it...

_It is not some genetic disorder as the men in white coats would tell you. They are simply the unfortunate ones to not have received this gift. Pity them, for they, the outcasts, deserve your pity. _

"Mihara…" She looked just like her. If she was wandering around Deika City, Geten would have thought she was some ordinary soldier. An ordinary person, even. _How was she an outcast? Why did the MLA start hunting down the quirkless? Out of pity? They deserved it?_

She slammed the book shut as the image of her dead body appeared in her mind. She drew deep breaths to calm herself – had she been hyperventilating this entire time? Her fists were trembling, blood pounding in her head in anger of it all.

The agony was a python writhing on her chest while old memories resurfaced from the aching in her brain. She remembered what Re-destro taught her, and how he did it.

A growl rose in her throat.

Kicked. Starved. Left alone to fend for herself, in the name of "liberation". Everything that she did. _Everything that was done to me, was in the name of liberation, but it shackled me more and more. _

"Gah!" She flung the book across the room and buried her head in her hands.

She sat there upright on the hospital bed for some time, the silence screaming all the answers she did not want to hear, but had to.

"_You don't find anything wrong with that?" _Dabi had said on the plane. She remembered his countenance, a mixture of irritation and pity, whenever she spoke about the MLA. She had chalked it up to the arrogance of the victorious, or just a dislike of her, which was mutual then, so it never bothered her to think further. The pieces started to click together.

"You dropped this." A dry voice made her look up, and a paleness spread across her face like permafrost.

Tomura Shigaraki stood at her doorway, dressed in a crimson jacket whose sleeves ran down his arms and a black undershirt, whilst wearing jeans. He looked like any other ordinary person, if not for the severed hand on his face. In his hand was the book.

Instantly, thoughts of a legless Re-destro, or the piles of dust that once were Shigaraki's opponents flooded her mind. She gripped the bedsheets tightly.

"Why are you here? And...I don't need that." Geten averted her eyes.

Shigaraki tossed it to the side and shut the door behind her. "I'm not here to kill you or anything, don't shit yourself. I came here to see how you were doing. I gotta say, you look like you got broken up with."

His words didn't reassure her in the least, especially not the way he said 'kill you', but his posture didn't indicate any animosity, so Geten took his word for it. Clearing her throat and steadying herself as best as she could, she responded, "I'm fine."

"What's with the book throw? Test tomorrow?"

"No," She replied with an edge to her voice.

"You pissed?"

She exhaled. "Yes," She said, mustering all the civility and politeness she had left.

"How nice," He said, the concern in his tone matching that of his expression. "Anyway, you're free to do what you want now. I got nothing for Violet Regiment. You're excused from the council meetings till you're discharged, whenever the hell that is."

She blinked. "That's all?"

Shigaraki cocked his head. "What, you were expecting a celebration of your win?"

"No...never mind. Th – thank you, Commander." She bowed her head.

She heard the door slam and looked back up. She let loose a shuddering breath of relief from the sole fact that she was alive and not missing a limb, or an entire torso. He had looked more disinterested, as if she was an ant on his finger, but she would gladly accept that over a smiling Shigaraki.

_Did Dabi actually talk to him? _She recalled the promise he had made on the motorbike ride.

Maybe the consequences were waiting for her once her hospitalization was over, which made goosebumps appear on her skin. She held the sheets closer to her. Still, Shigaraki didn't seem like the type to grant her catharsis before unleashing whatever hell he wanted upon her. If he was going to punish her, he would have done so just now.

Geten sighed and sunk back underneath the covers. Or _maybe I'm just lying to myself..._

It was only mid-afternoon, judging from the sky outside, yet fatigue, both physical and mental, weighed her limbs down as if she had been training the whole day. The bed suddenly felt like the softest, most comforting thing in the world. Unable to fight against her body, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, her thoughts too cluttered to sift through. A few names and words stood out, one of which was, _Find Dabi._

* * *

**Feedback's appreciated as always. **


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